The Assessment of Undergraduate Mathematicians: Recrafting Assessment of Learning to Provide Opportunities for Assessment as Learning

Abstract

This article considers assessment practices in the field of higher education mathematics courses. It argues that, within the potentially deleterious context of summative assessments, it is possible to re-craft the demands on students in order to incorporate some opportunities for educative assessment. Evidence, in the form of stories of students' experiences, is offered to suggest that such practices have a contribution to make to supporting students in making positive disciplinary relationships.

Students' preferences in undergraduate mathematics assessment

“…These include projects (Berry and Houston 1995), poster presentations (Houston 2001), multiple choice questions (Haines and Crouch 2005;Ramesh 2009), oral assessment (Levesley 2011) or a combination of projects, posters and presentations (Povey and Angier 2006). The rationale behind the calls to innovate is that traditional closed book examinations are not seen as fostering understanding of this subject and may be seen as responsible for the association that students appear to make between being good at mathematics and simply having a good memory (Schoenfeld 1989).…”

Students' perceptions of assessment in undergraduate mathematics

“…They argue that mathematics students lack insight into the messy process of doing mathematics, and that tackling a project would show them just how the process of doing mathematics is different from the linear exposition of mathematics in textbooks. In recent years, many authors have advocated the introduction of other innovative methods of assessment, such as poster presentations (Houston, 2001), a combination of projects, posters and oral presentations (Povey & Angier 2006), multiple choice questions (Haines and Crouch 2005;Ramesh 2009) or mathematical writing (McConlogue, Mitchell, and Vivaldi 2010). Amongst the reasons for supporting the introduction of innovative assessment methods is the perception that traditional methods such as closed-book examinations are not suitable for assessing the variety of skills required in the workplace (Challis et al 2004).…”

The summative assessment diet: how we assess in mathematics degrees

“…Some mathematics departments have clearly developed more varied diets: Povey & Angier (2006) report on the assessment methods used at one UK university which include oral presentations, posters, projects as well as a traditional closed book exams.…”