Overview of project
This project is concerned with further development of the in-house algorithmic Dewis e-assessment system at the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol). Dewis is a fully algorithmic open source e-Assessment system which was primarily designed for numerate e-assessments. Currently, it facilitates formative and summative e-assessments in the fields of Mathematics, Engineering, Business and Computer Science. Even though the Dewis e-Assessment system has been very successful over the past decade, it is not being used to its full potential. Therefore, this project aims to use and develop additional features to fully realise the benefits of the Dewis system. The aim of this study is to develop a computer assisted method to detect Common Student Errors (CSEs) in Engineering Mathematics and to provide comprehensive individualised feedback through Dewis.
For example, a typical CSE many students make is to answer a2 + b2 when asked to expand (a+b)2. The research will involve a case study to collect CSEs which the First Year Engineering Mathematics students tend to make. We have been developing scripts using the Perl programming language to be included into each Dewis question, which will identify each CSE and enable detailed enhanced feedback to be provided. The enhanced CSE enhanced feedback, which has been designed to highlight to the student their CSE and to clarify the misunderstanding that they had in answering the question. These amended questions are included in the semester 1 weekly e-assessments used in module UFMFJ9-30-1 Engineering Mathematics for the 2019/2020 cohort of students.
Evaluating the effectiveness of the enhanced feedback on the Dewis e-Assessment System
To evaluate the effectiveness of detecting and reporting CSEs we will be conducting a questionnaire. All students who received CSE-enhanced feedback will be invited to take part in this research. The purpose of the questionnaire will be to gain information about their experience of and views on the enhanced feedback. The collected feedback will be made anonymous. The results of the study will be analysed and used in my PhD thesis and that will be available on UWE’s open-access repository. The anonymised results may also be used in conference and journal papers and peer-reviewed academic papers
Related Publications
Sikurajapathi, I., Henderson, K., and Gwynllyw, R., (2020) Using E-Assessment to Address Mathematical Misconceptions in Engineering Students. International Journal of Information and Education Technology. 10(5), pp.356–361.
Sikurajapathi, I., Henderson, K., and Gwynllyw, R. (2021) Students' Perceptions of Enhanced E-assessment Feedback Addressing Common Student Errors in Mathematics. MSOR Connections. 19 (2), pp. 10-27.
If you would like any further information about the research please contact: Indunil Sikurajapathi