Numbas at Newcastle
Chris Graham
School of Mathematics, Statistics & Physics E-Learning Unit
In this talk
A very broad overview of Numbas use at Newcastle University (UK).
Who is using Numbas and how.
Some observations of recent activity and trends here.
10+ Years of Numbas at Newcastle
E-Learning Unit
Team of 4(ish) dedicated to supporting technology-enhanced teaching and learning in our School of Maths, Stats & Physics.
Newcastle University
Faculty of Science, Agriculture & Engineering
School of Maths, Stats & Physics
E-Learning Unit
Numbas use by subject
Accounting
Biomedical Sciences
Business
Chemistry
Computing
Economics
Engineering
INTO
Mathematics & Statistics
Physics
Psychology
Sports Science
Surveying
Numbas use by school
Numbas in G100
| Stage 1 |
Transition material
MAS1605
MAS1606
MAS1607
MAS1608
MAS1701
MAS1702
MAS1803
MAS1902
|
| Stage 2 |
MAS2702
MAS2703
MAS2707
MAS2803
MAS2804
MAS2806
MAS2903
MAS2904
MAS2906
|
| Stage 3 |
MAS3701
MAS3702
MAS3705
MAS3706
MAS3707
MAS3708
MAS3802
MAS3804
MAS3808
MAS3809
MAS3810
MAS3815
MAS3902
MAS3904
MAS3804
MAS3905
MAS3907
MAS3909
MAS3911
MAS3913
|
Module example I
MAS1607, moderate use
- Numbas practice sets organised by topic
- Two hybrid in-course summative assessments (Numbas 50%).
Module example II
MAS1803, high use
- Weekly practical handout questions
- Weekly Test Yourself practice questions
- Warm up
- Week's content
- Bonus questions
- Two hybrid in-course summative assessments (Numbas ~60%)
- Mock and final exam
Preparing questions
Pre-Covid, the E-Learning Unit (mostly) prepared Numbas questions on behalf of module leaders.
Step change at the start of Covid:
- Lecturers often now write their own material
- Postgraduates employed to develop material instead of marking
Applications of Numbas
Numbas is used throughout the student life-cycle in a number of different applications (each one probably a 15 min talk!)
- Pre-entry course and examination
- Transition material
- Diagnostic tests
- Maths support
- Module practice material
- Laboratory/practical material
- In-course assessments
- Final exams
Some recent trends
Hybrid assessments
Numbas and manual marking to enable more efficient, focussed marking.
Programming extension
More on Wednesday!
Explore mode
Adaptive marking became an unlikely contender for doing laboratory experiments!
Explore mode more naturally accomodates lab and practical activities.
Exams
Pre-Covid we ran a very small number of in-person exams.
We use a "Numbas application" to deliver exams in a locked-down browser.
Evolution of exams
2019/20: all semester 2, stage 1 exams in Maths, Stats & Physics moved online (pass-fail format).
2020/21: Stage 1 exams stayed online in a "4 in 24" format.
This year: ~20 exams planned in-person using a combination of our University lock-down exam system Inspera and Numbas.
Institution support
Has taken a long time to develop.
What has helped:
- Working with other departments
- Working with our central learning and teaching team
- Sitting on committees and working groups
- Applying for small teaching grants and awards
Later this week
More talks related to Numbas @ Newcastle:
-
Later today:
- From CALM to Numbas
-
Wednesday:
- The programming extension
- Longer computational question setting and marking using Numbas
-
Thursday:
- Numbas for Chemistry
Thank you!
Thanks for listening.
I can be contacted at christopher.graham@ncl.ac.uk.