A Proposal for Formative Assessment with Automatic Feedback on an Online Mathematics Subject
This article presents a new teaching methodology implemented on a basic mathematics course for Engineering students at the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) The experience of its implementation in the 2010/11 academic year is described and the results are discussed. This methodology is based on formative assessment. As well as doing the activities contained in the course materials, students take weekly practice and assessment quizzes and receive automatic feedback. Not only are they told whether their answers are correct, but they also receive suggestions and comments on the possible sources of their errors. The results suggest that this teaching methodology gives students the opportunity to regulate their own learning processes while allowing lecturers to identify and react to problems in a responsive, timely manner. They also suggest that it fosters interaction among students and between students and lecturers. Moreover, since the teaching methodology was introduced, the number of students dropping out of the subject has fallen considerably.ResumenEn este articulo se presenta una nueva estrategia docente en un curso basico de matematicas para estudiantes de ingenieria de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya; se describe la experiencia de su implementacion en el curso 2010 2011 y se discuten los resultados obtenidos. Esta metodologia, basada en la evaluacion formativa, se concreta en la realizacion semanal de cuestionaries de practica y de evaluacion con feedback automatico, ademas de la realizacion de actividades propias del material del curse. En la retroalimentacion del sistema, ne solamente se informa de la validez de la respuesta, sine que se proporcionan sugerencias y cementarios del posible origen de su errer. Per un lado, les resultados obtenidos sugieren que la metodologia docente implementada da a los estudiantes la oportunidad de regular su propio proceso de aprendizaje y al profesorado, la posibilidad de detectar problematicas y reaccionar con agilidad; por otro lado, fomenta las interacciones con contenide matematico tanto entre estudiantes como entre estudiante y profesor. Ademas, con esta estrategia docente, el numere de estudiantes que abandonan la asignatura se ha reducido notablemente.
International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education