Overview

a) An understanding of teaching, learning and assessment processes

I have been a member of academic staff in (what is now) the School of Mathematical Sciences (SMS) at Queen Mary, University of London, since 1979, Reader in Mathematics since 1989 and Director of Undergraduate Studies since 2007.

In 2002 I received a Drapers' Award for Excellence in Teaching in recognition of sustained excellence in teaching and the facilitation of student learning from Queen Mary, University of London.

I have taught a wide range of BSc and MSc modules and supervised PhD students. Most of my teaching has focussed on various aspects of mathematical computation but I have also taught mathematical techniques and linear algebra. I was the external assessor for the development of the Open University course MS325 Computer algebra, chaos and simulations during 2006–08 and then the external examiner for the course until it closed in 2013. I have taught outreach sessions for school students from year 10 upwards and directed and taught on a CPD course for A-level teachers sponsored by The Goldsmiths' Company.

In this section of my portfolio, I will focus on my contributions to the development and teaching of computer algebra at Queen Mary. One aspect of this is how changes of technology have changed what is feasible. The computing platforms we used began with BBC micros, followed by Atari STs and then various flavours of networked Windows PCs. Computer-based exams only became feasible fairly recently (around 2010).

In the mid 1980s, I was involved in proposing, designing and teaching a third-year undergraduate module on Algebraic Computing and our main difficulty was providing computing resources. Then in the early 1990s I was involved in designing and teaching mathematical computing to our first-year students and by this time computing resources were not a major problem.

Currently, I teach a module that evolved from our initial first-year mathematical computing modules, which I will describe in detail. For this module, everything is online through QMplus, the Queen Mary version of Moodle, and I use almost no paper. I use open-book computer-based exams and allow students full access to the internet. I think this reduces student anxiety but does not affect the mark distribution.

b) An understanding of your target learners

In response to student feedback, I modified the way I teach my current module significantly over the first couple of years, starting with fairly conventional lectures in the first year, then using purely student-centred learning in the second year, and subsequently using student-centred learning together with mini-lectures and mini-tutorials, which seems to be the most successful approach.

I negotiated an extension of the Queen Mary Maple licence to allow students to install Maple on their private computers for free. Students like the fact that they can work on my module anywhere and any time. I introduced formal groupwork this academic year, using the group facilities in QMplus, with partial success. Students need more guidance on how to work in groups.

Francis Wright's CMALT ePortfolio

Francis Wright's CMALT ePortfolio

CMALT 2

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