Feedback-rich questions are a valuable resource in formative assessment, and students find contex... more Feedback-rich questions are a valuable resource in formative assessment, and students find contextualised questions that are relevant to their discipline and subject area more motivating than “plain maths”. A number of OER repositories and previous projects have made content available that is compliant with the IMS Question and Test Interoperability specification Version 2.1 but much of this content lacks context. At the same time, the existing tools for authoring QTIv2.1 are not readily accessible to the uninitiated. In the QTIDI and Uniqurate projects we are transferring the technological means to create, modify and deliver QTI 2.1 to a group of “client” partner institutions, redeveloping the tools to focus on usability and integration with common Virtual Learning Environments. Many of the staff members who are adopting the technologies teach STEM subjects in which students are required to learn and practise mathematical techniques as a tool with which to achieve the objectives of their specific discipline. As a second strand of the project, colleagues from client institutions will be trained to use the new tools to add context from their own questions to existing “plain maths” content.
IMS Question and Test Interoperability version 2.1 (QTI 2.1) provides a flexible and powerful way... more IMS Question and Test Interoperability version 2.1 (QTI 2.1) provides a flexible and powerful way of specifying computer delivered assessment questions and tests in an XML format that can be used by different delivery systems, including Moodle. There are currently three JISC-funded projects on QTI: QTIDI, Uniqurate and QTI-PET, and it is the latter which Edinburgh Napier University is involved in. This work is now at the stage of being tested by interested parties at various institutions (see author list above) , and it is this work that is being presented. At Edinburgh Napier, an existing on-line test which assesses standard grade mathematics has been rewritten in QTI format. The individual questions will be made available for use by the other partners, and it is envisaged that next academic year (2014/2015) the QTI test will run for the first time as part of a module assessment package.
"In recent years the BTech Ed First Year Mathematics module has undergone a sign... more "In recent years the BTech Ed First Year Mathematics module has undergone a significant redesign due to a combination of factors. In 2010 a new tutor took over the module and began to add more content to the existing course in order to encourage students to engage with online resources, but a total redesign was not possible due to the limitations of the existing VLE (Moodle 1.9). In 2012, with support from the Learning Technology Unit, this course was restructured on the new Moodle 2.3 site in order that a new tool for quiz authoring and delivery (written by experts at the University of Glasgow in collaboration with Edinburgh and Kingston) could be embedded within the course. Previous technologies available were limited in various ways; with the arrival of this new tool sophisticated questions can be delivered and activities can be accessed on and off campus. In addition to this, the new version of the course includes tools for social networking and collaborative learning. In this presentation we show the current version of our Moodle 2 course in detail, explaining our reasons for incorporating the elements we have used. We talk about the journey from Moodle 1.9 to 2.3, reflecting on the amount of time needed to set up a course such as this and explaining the decisions we made. We also show the quiz tool in detail, in order that participants can gain an appreciation of the benefits to themselves of implementing this tool. We end with a brief discussion of future plans for the course, including suggestions for further embedding social networking and collaborative learning into the course. "
Feedback-rich questions are a valuable resource in formative assessment, and students find contex... more Feedback-rich questions are a valuable resource in formative assessment, and students find contextualised questions that are relevant to their discipline and subject area more motivating than “plain maths”. A number of OER repositories and previous projects have made content available that is compliant with the IMS Question and Test Interoperability specification Version 2.1 but much of this content lacks context. At the same time, the existing tools for authoring QTIv2.1 are not readily accessible to the uninitiated. In the QTIDI and Uniqurate projects we are transferring the technological means to create, modify and deliver QTI 2.1 to a group of “client” partner institutions, redeveloping the tools to focus on usability and integration with common Virtual Learning Environments. Many of the staff members who are adopting the technologies teach STEM subjects in which students are required to learn and practise mathematical techniques as a tool with which to achieve the objectives of their specific discipline. As a second strand of the project, colleagues from client institutions will be trained to use the new tools to add context from their own questions to existing “plain maths” content.
IMS Question and Test Interoperability version 2.1 (QTI 2.1) provides a flexible and powerful way... more IMS Question and Test Interoperability version 2.1 (QTI 2.1) provides a flexible and powerful way of specifying computer delivered assessment questions and tests in an XML format that can be used by different delivery systems, including Moodle. There are currently three JISC-funded projects on QTI: QTIDI, Uniqurate and QTI-PET, and it is the latter which Edinburgh Napier University is involved in. This work is now at the stage of being tested by interested parties at various institutions (see author list above) , and it is this work that is being presented. At Edinburgh Napier, an existing on-line test which assesses standard grade mathematics has been rewritten in QTI format. The individual questions will be made available for use by the other partners, and it is envisaged that next academic year (2014/2015) the QTI test will run for the first time as part of a module assessment package.
"In recent years the BTech Ed First Year Mathematics module has undergone a sign... more "In recent years the BTech Ed First Year Mathematics module has undergone a significant redesign due to a combination of factors. In 2010 a new tutor took over the module and began to add more content to the existing course in order to encourage students to engage with online resources, but a total redesign was not possible due to the limitations of the existing VLE (Moodle 1.9). In 2012, with support from the Learning Technology Unit, this course was restructured on the new Moodle 2.3 site in order that a new tool for quiz authoring and delivery (written by experts at the University of Glasgow in collaboration with Edinburgh and Kingston) could be embedded within the course. Previous technologies available were limited in various ways; with the arrival of this new tool sophisticated questions can be delivered and activities can be accessed on and off campus. In addition to this, the new version of the course includes tools for social networking and collaborative learning. In this presentation we show the current version of our Moodle 2 course in detail, explaining our reasons for incorporating the elements we have used. We talk about the journey from Moodle 1.9 to 2.3, reflecting on the amount of time needed to set up a course such as this and explaining the decisions we made. We also show the quiz tool in detail, in order that participants can gain an appreciation of the benefits to themselves of implementing this tool. We end with a brief discussion of future plans for the course, including suggestions for further embedding social networking and collaborative learning into the course. "
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