Contextual Statement

I have been interested in computing for a long time and a significant component of my PhD research involved numerical computation and graphical display of diffraction integrals. I have taught a number of computer-based modules, starting with a numerical computing module using FORTRAN 77. I was director of an MSc programme in mathematical computing, for which I also taught a range of programming languages including FORTRAN, PASCAL and BASIC. In the mid-1980s I co-developed a third-year BSc module in algebraic computing using REDUCE, which led to the publication of my first (co-authored) textbook in 1991. In the early 1990s I developed a new first-year BSc module in mathematical computing using Maple, which led to the publication of my second (solo) textbook in 2001. The module I currently teach is a distant descendant of that module, which focusses more on mathematics and less on computing, and makes much more use of recent developments in the Maple GUI.

I have been enthusiastic about the use of the world-wide web since it became available in the early 1990s. For a long time, the School of Mathematical Sciences (SMS) used its own web server to provide teaching materials to its students and for about the last ten years I had primary responsibility for maintaining our undergraduate web pages. For around ten years, I ran my own web server on my desktop computer, initially to serve information and an online interactive differential equation solver as part of a European computer algebra research project (CATHODE), and I now maintain the web site for the Open Source REDUCE project on SourceForge. Since around 2009 I have been involved with the Queen Mary virtual/online learning environments and the progressive move of SMS undergraduate student information from conventional web sites to managed learning environments.

I am applying for CMALT accreditation to professionalize the e-learning aspects of my work and to acknowledge what I have learnt and accomplished. Academic staff are now required to have professional teaching accreditation and CMALT looks like an interesting and appropriate accreditation for me. I hope it will encourage other staff in SMS to become more involved in e-learning. It will also give me a basis and some credentials to continue to work in e-learning and possibly move into learning-related software development (such as apps for mobile devices) in future.

Francis Wright's CMALT ePortfolio

Francis Wright's CMALT ePortfolio

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