Tim Lowe

The Open University

• tim.lowe@open.ac.uk
• www.open.ac.uk/stem/mathematics-and-statistics/people/tl2269
• timlowe
• 0000-0001-7154-0168

I am currently the Director of Teaching in the School of Mathematics and Statistics at the UK Open University. My background is as an applied mathematician, but more recently I have been interested in the use of computer-based systems to support and enhance the learning of mathematics. I have led the adoption of STACK within the OU, and have written and maintain questions for several modules.

Questions

Tim is a contributor to these questions:

• Q1: What common errors do students make when answering online assessment questions?
• Q2: Do the errors students make in e-assessments differ from those they make in paper-based assessments?
• Q3: What are the approaches to detecting and feeding back on students’ errors?
• Q9: What are the relative benefits of e-assessment giving feedback on a student’s set of responses (e.g. “two of these answers are wrong – find which ones and correct them”), rather than individual responses separately?
• Q10: Under what circumstances is diagnosing errors worth the extra effort, as compared with generally addressing errors known to be typical?
• Q14: To what extent does repeated practice on randomized e-assessment tasks encourage mathematics students to discover deep links between ideas?
• Q24: To what extent does the randomisation of question parameters, which makes sharing answers between students difficult, adequately address plagiarism?
• Q25: What effect does the use of random versions of a question (e.g. using parameterised values) have on the outcomes of e-assessment?
• Q27: How can formative e-assessments improve students’ performance in later assessments?
• Q34: How can lecturers be informed about how students interact with e-assessment tasks, and so help lecturers act upon these findings in an effective way?
• Q41: Are there differences in performance on mathematics problems presented on paper versus as e-assessments?
• Q47: How can we assess open-ended tasks using e-assessment?
• Q54: To what extent can e-assessments meaningfully judge student responses to example generation tasks?