From Sally.Hanford at nottingham.ac.uk Fri May 4 17:53:44 2012 From: Sally.Hanford at nottingham.ac.uk (Sally Hanford) Date: Fri, 4 May 2012 17:53:44 +0100 Subject: [Metal] FW: e-learning community Message-ID: Some of you may be interested in this seminar. Regards Sally From: Beggan Andy Sent: 04 May 2012 08:45 Subject: e-learning community Dear all The next E-learning Community lunchtime seminar is Wednesday 9th May, from 12.30 pm in Sir Clive Granger A48 The theme is Synchronous Online Communication: running successful Adobe Connect sessions with students Our speakers include: Jonathan Houdmont (lecturer - including on the MSc in Health and Wellbeing - in the Institute for Work, Health and Organisations) Sue Cobb (Principal Research Fellow, Faculty of Engineering) If possible, please confirm attendance to is-learning-team at nottingham.ac.uk though we appreciate that the bank Holiday means that time is short, so you are welcome to just turn up. The E-learning Community is a informal network of academics and learning technologists across the University, which has been going since 2005. Lunchtime events take place approximately monthly - they are normally recorded and the outputs are disseminated to those unable to attend. They cover an aspect of teaching and learning and/or learning technology and include information and practical case studies from within the University. Everyone interested in teaching and learning with technology is welcome. Kind regards Andy Beggan Head of Learning Technology e-learning at Nottingham: http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/elan/ Learning Technology Blog -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Sally.Hanford at nottingham.ac.uk Tue May 8 15:32:21 2012 From: Sally.Hanford at nottingham.ac.uk (Sally Hanford) Date: Tue, 8 May 2012 15:32:21 +0100 Subject: [Metal] FW: ViTAL video in education - Webinar tomorrow! Message-ID: Some of you might be interested in this online event: From: Young, Clive [mailto:c.p.l.young at ucl.ac.uk] Sent: 08 May 2012 12:46 To: Young, Clive Subject: ViTAL video in education - Webinar tomorrow! The next ViTAL/REC:all webinar is TOMORROW Video and Pedagogical Design. Date: Wednesday 9 May Time: 13:00 - 14:00 (UK time) Presenter: Mike O'Donoghue Mike is a researcher and lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Manchester. His research interests focus on producing and using video for educational purposes and is a frequent and very popular speaker at conferences such as DIVERSE. In this session Mike will focus on the design and production aspects in producing video to maximise the desired learning outcomes and promote learner engagement. He will draw on his own research and literature from the field in this session. The URL for the meeting is: http://lancasteruni.emea.acrobat.com/vital-webinars The ViTAL team http://vital-sig.ning.com/ REC:all project http://www.rec-all.info/ -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Joel.Feinstein at nottingham.ac.uk Mon May 14 16:26:33 2012 From: Joel.Feinstein at nottingham.ac.uk (Joel Feinstein) Date: Mon, 14 May 2012 16:26:33 +0100 Subject: [Metal] Automatic generation of random formative and summative multiple choice tests Message-ID: <8824AAED239A0A48AE135277DC2B79B43EAB4E5035@EXCHANGE1.ad.nottingham.ac.uk> Hi everyone, I'm looking at the possibility of getting funding from the latest University HERMES call for the following project. However initial feedback from them says that funding is unlikely unless I have strong evidence of interest from other Schools in the University and beyond. This appears unlikely for this round (deadline May 21st), so I am probably looking at the next round (October 2012). On the other hand, to quote our research facilitator David Hawker: There will be a further round of Hermes in October, so if we can make some phone calls and enquiries by then and garner support for your idea, the University sounds as if it would be behind it. Of course if you are able to whip up a frenzy of interest in the next few days we can still go for the current call! So, is there a frenzy of interest? Best wishes, Joel Automatic generation of random formative and summative multiple choice tests What forms of assessment are both efficient and effective in encouraging student engagement? Assessed coursework is a possibility, but has high overheads in terms of marking time, and there is also the issue of plagiarism. Oral presentations and examinations can be an excellent way to measure understanding, but are usually impractical for large classes. Multiple choice tests are very efficient on the marking side (machine marking), but the design of good questions is time-consuming, and there are currently limitations on the variations which can be randomly generated from a particular question type. Some randomization of numbers in questions and of the order of the questions is possible in some systems, but there is currently little scope for randomization of the variable names, function names, language expression, etc. The proposed project involves investigation of the best way to generate large numbers (tens of thousands) of questions from any given prototype, by means of suitable randomization of numbers, variable names, function names, and language used (e.g., for quantifiers in mathematics, symbols can be used, or one can use "for all", "for each", "for every", "there exist(s)", "there are/is", "there corresponds", etc.). Ideally the questions could be output from the software in a form suitable for input into a variety of online systems (e.g. rogo, moodle, ...) I already have a few sample prototype questions which can be used to test students' understanding of the use of mathematical quantifiers. I would need a substantial amount of dedicated time in order to develop software tools of my own and futher question prototypes in order to generate substantial question banks. Although my initial proposal is for mathematics tests, the project could be extended to many other areas. I would envisage the questions generated being used in the following way: having chosen which type of question will appear in a paper-based multiple-choice class test, the students are allowed to practice (formatively) this type of question as much as they like online, with instant feedback. Even if the class test is worth very little credit, it is likely that the students will put in a lot of work on the formative questions to prepare for the test. I believe that a similar formative/summative system has been tried in Engineering with considerable success. I believe that it would be a rather efficient use of staff time to generate prototype questions which can then be used again and again. There would be no need to generate new prototypes every year (though it may be that new prototypes would be introduced from time to time). The benefits: Increased student engagement. Better levels of student understanding. Essentially unlimited, ready-made assessments of students, with minimal staff input required. These benefits are for us directly, and for anyone else who uses the system. Obviously, the fact that the system originates in Nottingham will raise the profile of Nottingham's teaching. -- Dr J. Feinstein Tel: +44-115-9514968 Pure Mathematics FAX: +44-115-9514951 Nottingham NG7 2RD Web: http://www.maths.nott.ac.uk/~jff United Kingdom Blog: http://explainingmaths.wordpress.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: From Joel.Feinstein at nottingham.ac.uk Wed May 16 09:47:22 2012 From: Joel.Feinstein at nottingham.ac.uk (Joel Feinstein) Date: Wed, 16 May 2012 09:47:22 +0100 Subject: [Metal] Automatic generation of MCQ questions Message-ID: <8824AAED239A0A48AE135277DC2B79B43EAB67DFE9@EXCHANGE1.ad.nottingham.ac.uk> Hi everyone, (See also my previous post.) Feedback I have received so far from this list and further afield suggests that a number of people are interested in this type of product. Some work has already been done on this. For example, Maple TA can apparently do some or all of what I want, and there are several other interesting systems which have been developed around the country (including Nottingham, as Claire Chambers has pointed out!). What is less clear so far is the extent to which any of the existing systems can export questions in forms suitable for inputting into a variety of other systems, e.g. Moodle and Rogo etc. There certainly appears scope for collaboration with a number of interested groups around the country on question design and implementation. Does anyone know whether existing systems can generate question banks of the type I suggested, and then export them in a variety of standard formats? This might also be a possible direction worth pursuing. I am interested in making the product as widely available and as useful as possible. Generally I am biased towards generating free products, to maximize uptake and impact. But I suppose there might be some associated commercial possibilities. Best wishes, Joel -- Dr J. Feinstein Tel: +44-115-9514968 Pure Mathematics FAX: +44-115-9514951 Nottingham NG7 2RD Web: http://www.maths.nott.ac.uk/~jff United Kingdom Blog: http://explainingmaths.wordpress.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: