Using Flexible Learning to Cure the QM Malaise

Michaela Cottee, Amanda Relph and Karen RobinsUniversity of Hertfordshire Business School(UH)

Objectives

1 •Discuss which areas of quantitative methods need urgent support;

2 •Consider student preference on the type of flexible learning;

3• Exchange views on how to provide formative

assessment, feedback and support to students for quantitative methods.

What we have found so far

“each new topic is always broken down well with plenty of examples to be worked which I feel … is the easiest way to understand numerical concepts”

“delivery and interaction with students during lectures, could be improved in order to enable a greater enjoyment and understanding relating to that particular module”

Student comments

“I think EVS is a good idea, as it makes students visit the lecture slides again instead of leaving it all till revision”

What we have found so farStudents (from questionnaires)• Are worried well, just need a supplement for

confidence and reassurance;• are confident of their abilities and unaware of

their weaknesses;• want dedicated support from their module

leader, but fail to ask for it;• Wanted a variety of different support

mechanisms;• 30% unaware of the numeracy test;• Cannot use mathematical functions in Excel

What we have found so far“what I find helps enormously are the tutorial sheets that you can practice, and then go to the tutorial and go through the calculations with the tutor … I found it was something that didn't require extra reading, just practicing over and over again”

“you may get stuck on a question and the only way of solving this is by asking the tutor at the end of the tutorial, so in that sense they are happy to support. In terms of extra support, there could be a few maths classes prior to exam time.”

What we have found so far

“lecturers should not rush while explaining what they want us to do for Numeracy in our courses, as it has been a while to catch up with our mathematical experience through school and/or college”

“the length to learn numeracy for our modules was very limited, i.e. three weeks, there was not enough support to give us to give us confidence to succeed with the numeracy module”

What we have found so far“My opinion of the delivery and material within my QM module is that it was enough to meet the criteria of the module but allowed no room for students to stand out, we were being taught a relatively easy standard of statistics that doesn't really give anything spectacular for me to put on applications for internships next summer”

“Resources were limited to a vague textbook outline and that's about it, I would prefer to be told about a really good book external to the university which clearly explains mathematical processes which I may use in a career; not just in a numeracy module in first year”

What we have found so far“make lectures more engaging, make more examples when teaching a topic such as measures of location with real life examples ”

“there are not many books that can explain topics that the course covers. Our lecturer did suggest a textbook however they did say it was worded poorly and so put me off looking for the textbook”

What we have found so far

“the numeracy module was extremely useful, having not studied ‘math’ or utilized the skills learnt from GCSE math’s for exceeding 2 years”

“The only change I would make to the module, is to spend more than 3 weeks on the topic, as having numeracy and quantitative skills is one of the key skills which graduate employers require in particularly during the recruitment process where we would be required to take an aptitude test”

Recent Quants Test Results

Can easily identify the questions/topics which students struggle with, but many problems are more fundamental and include:• Applying BODMAS• Expanding brackets• Rearranging terms• Attention to details (eg. signs and lines)• Recognising the problem type• Coping with mixed units (eg. £ and p)

Gaps in knowledge of provisionFrom staff– Pre-knowledge– No recall– Unable to transfer

skills and knowledge

Topics– Very hard to get one

list – repetition and

terminology issues

Topics covered: skills modulesTopic 4BUS1027 4BUS1040 4BUS1047 4BUS1041 4BUS1023 4BUS1045Basic analysis X X X Basic charts X X X Basic numerical techniques X X X     XBreak-even           XBudgets           XData gathering / sampling     X      Descriptive statistics     X     XEXCEL           XGraphical representations           XSpreadsheets X X        

4BUS1027 Introduction to Management - BA Management4BUS1040 Introduction to Business and Management - JH4BUS1047 Professionalism  in Event  Management BA EM4BUS1061 Introduction to Business - BA BS4BUS1041 The Accounting and Finance Professional - BA Finance4BUS1023 Introduction to Human Resource Management- BA HRM4BUS1048 Professionalism  in Tourism Management - BA TM4BUS1045 Professional Development For Marketers - BA Marketing4BUS1042 The Professional Economist

Topics covered: QM modules4BUS1016 4BUS1017 4BUS1018 4BUS1019 4BUS1021 4BUS1022 4BUS1052

•Basic numerical techniques X X X X X X•Basic probability X X X X X X•Calculus     X        •Chi-squared test         X    •Confidence intervals   X     X    •Correlation X X X X X X X•Descriptive statistics X X X X X X X•Equations   X X        •EXCEL X X X X   X X•Forecasting / Time series X X X X X X X•Graphical representations X     X   X X•Index numbers   X X X X X X•Investment appraisal       X X X X•Optimisation       X   X X•Probability distribution(s)   X X X X X X•Project management (CPA) X X   X X X X•Regression X X X X X X X•Simulation X            

4BUS1016 Tourism and Events: Data Analysis in Practice [Sem.B]4BUS1017 Quantitative Analysis for Accounting and Finance [Sem.B]4BUS1018 Quantitative Methods for Economics [Sem.B]4BUS1019 Methods and Systems for Business Decisions [Sem.B]4BUS1021 Marketing Data Analysis [Sem.A]4BUS1022 Quantitative Methods for Business and Management A [Sem.A]4BUS1052 Quantitative Methods for Business and Management [Sem.B]

Objectives

1 •Discuss which areas of quantitative methods need urgent support;

2 •Consider student preference on the type of flexible learning;

3• Exchange views on how to provide formative

assessment, feedback and support to students for quantitative methods.

Table discussion

• Discuss which areas of quantitative methods need urgent support;

• Consider student preference on the type of flexible learning.

Flexible Learning Opportunities at UH

• Modules – regular assessment throughout the module

• ASU website • Support tutors• Additional workshops• Numeracy support in core skills module• Distance / Blended Learning modules

Objectives

1 •Discuss which areas of quantitative methods need urgent support;

2 •Consider student preference on the type of flexible learning;

3• Exchange views on how to provide formative

assessment, feedback and support to students for quantitative methods.

Table discussion

Exchange views on how to provide formative assessment, feedback and support to students for quantitative methods.

Feedback from tables

•

We are hoping to gain

• Not to reinvent the wheel;• Use reusable learning objects, free

educational software;• Discuss what works well and what doesn’t.

Useful WebsitesMathcentre (OER)

– developed by a number of universities, Quick reference leaflets, video tutorials, teach yourself booklets, practice and revision, online testshttp://www.mathcentre.ac.uk

Maths Solutions – University of LeedsFeatures experienced teachers demonstrating solutions to a series of maths problems.HEA JISC

Useful Websites• Score (Support Centre Open Resources in Education)

http://www8.open.ac.uk/score

• FETLAR (OER) Finding Electronic Learning and assessment resources. HEA/JISc/OER Project (£250K) provides e-learning content and infrastructure to deliver end-to-end electronic assessment to students within a VLE http://www.FETLAR.bham.ac.uk

• eAA e-Assessment Associationwww.e-assessmentgroup.net

HEA Event

• Multi-platform Open Educational Resources (OER), Maths/Stats/NumeracyUniversity of Newcastle, 8th June 2012

Thank you!

Any questions?