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Jonathan Watkins
Maplesoft, Canada
Maple T.A. is a powerful online testing and assessment system designed especially for technical courses involving mathematics. It provides standard math notation, sophisticated plotting, free-response and open-ended math questions, and intelligent grading of responses, enabling you to take full advantage of automated assessment in your technical courses. In this talk, we demonstrate some of the ways Maple T.A. can be used to truly assess understanding. Examples will include open-ended mathematical questions that may have more than one correct answer, questions that require the student to show multiple steps to arrive at a solution, and the use of adaptive testing to evaluate how much of a problem the student actually understands when they initially give an incorrect response.
Jon recently completed a PhD in Theoretical Physics at the University of Birmingham, UK. He has a keen interest in Educational Technology with a focus on the application of computer based algebra systems for creating engaging learning resources. Jon first worked with Maple T.A. at the University of Birmingham, where he trained a team of staff and interns to write STEM based questions for deployment across the College of Engineering and Physical Sciences. Jon's time is currently split between his role as the Maple T.A. Development Manager at the University of Birmingham and as a Maple
T.A. specialist for Maplesoft.