The HELM Project: Helping Engineers Learn Mathematics Presented by Dr Martin Harrison Project Director

The HELM Project Helping Engineers Learn Mathematics - HELM Major 3-year curriculum development project Consortium of five UK universities Hull, Loughborough, Manchester, Reading, Sunderland UK government funding £250,000 Oct 2002 - Sept 2005 To enhance the mathematical education of engineering undergraduates by the provision of a range of flexible learning and teaching resources

HELM Target Group Departments and academics teaching mathematics to engineering undergraduates Engineering undergraduates who are the focus of “the mathematics problem” Clear need for more flexible mathematics curriculum for engineering undergraduates

HELM Learning Environment Using computer technology to develop A range of learning resources (Workbooks, CAL courseware) Assessment procedures Integrate into existing programmes Selecting stand-alone units Adopting the whole scheme Use To support lectures and continuous assessments To complement existing resources and texts For independent or group learning Also useful resource for science students and even specialist mathematics students

HELM Workbooks High quality written materials distributed to students as workbooks. Paper-based (~2800 pages) and electronic versions (PDF) are available 46 workbooks cover UK engineering mathematics & statistics syllabus 2 workbooks of engineering case studies & applications Student’s Guide & Tutor’s guide

HELM Workbooks - Sample

HELM Workbooks - Sample

HELM Workbooks Each Workbook contains Key points and contents in manageable sizes Tasks - guided exercises and worked solutions Students can insert their solutions Engineering examples Workbook 12, for example, illustrates all these features

HELM Interactive Lessons Web-delivered CAL courseware Multimedia interactive lessons (Authorware) About 80 segments related to 23 workbooks Audio, interactivity, revision exercises Self-assessments

HELM Assessment Regime Computer Aided Assessment - why? To reduce burden on staff involved in continuous assessment To check if students have mastered a new engineering mathematics concept To encourage self-assessment (formative) To drive student learning A regular pattern of short periods of study followed by assessment drives learning along at a steady pace Essential to gain the full potential of the other learning resources

CAA: Implementation at LU Question Mark Perception (QMP) Integrated web-delivered CAA regime Self-testing (Formative) Formal assessment (Summative) CD based CAA regime Self-testing is straightforward Formal assessment may be more difficult Requires a mechanism for marks to be processed and stored.

CAA: Screenshots CAA: QM Perception Screenshots

CAA: Resources 4500 questions in about 150 question banks Most have feedback as worked solutions, examples or generic instruction Each bank contains 20 clones of each question Tests can be custom-made by selecting questions from more than one bank of questions

Trialling High level of interest Over 60 academics from over 40 UK HEIs or FEIs involved in the development and evaluation of the resources Universities/Individuals in Germany, Netherlands, USA have also expressed interest

Evaluation Outcomes Workbooks Interactive Lessons CAA Significant uptake Layout & content Errors Interactive Lessons Mainly used as an additional resource CAA Widespread interest Implementation overheads of web delivery led to CD version

Modes of Usage Lecturers’ use Students’ use ~20% as core notes Half of these implement the CAA regime to provide formative & summative testing ~50% as supplementary material linked to lecture content ~30% in support centres Students’ use Independent learning, particularly Mature students Special needs students, e.g. dyslexics

CAA: Likes and Dislikes Students like flexibility Taking tests when they are ready Taking tests where they want Taking practice tests as many times as they wish Students dislike Unforgiving nature of CAA No marks for the method and intermediate steps Staff concerns Common question banks for practice & formal testing Cheating in unsupervised summative testing

Continuation Loughborough’s Mathematics Education Centre CETL (Provision of University-Wide Mathematics & Statistics Support) Maintain the HELM website Maintain the written materials (in electronic form) Hold the CAA Question Bank Consortium Members May update materials (for their own needs) Could provide ongoing support (at cost)

Transferability HEFCE transferability funding Aims Partners Leicester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford Brookes, Portsmouth & Salford Oct 2005 - Sept 2006 Aims Encourage the effective transfer of practice across institutions Convert further HEIs into long-term users of HELM learning resources Monitor usage in different pedagogic ways Evaluate the difficulties, successes & failures in transfer

Summary Need HELM Learning Resources More flexible mathematics learning resources due to increasing diversity of intake standards HELM Learning Resources Potential to enhance the mathematical education of engineering undergraduates Provide an alternative to lectures Can be used in distance learning mode

Conclusions HELM Workbooks HELM Interactive Lessons HELM CAA Encourage student engagement during lectures HELM Interactive Lessons Complement workbooks & aid understanding HELM CAA Flexible access via web delivery Facilitates regular testing of large numbers of students Random question selection Instant feedback Incorporates formative and summative testing Drives student learning

Contact HELM Phone: +44 (0) 1509 227461 Email: helm@lboro.ac.uk Web: http://helm.lboro.ac.uk