The increasing necessity of skills diversity in team teaching

Abstract

The advantages of including technological tools, for example dynamic graphing software, into the teaching and learning of technical subjects have long been recognised. Using such tools effectively in the classroom is at least partially constrained by the teacher’s knowledge and skills. Any teaching team benefits from skills diversity and always has, however, in recent years the skills needed for effective use of the tools available are becoming more numerous and more varied. Using a range of tools for assessment, rather than for in-class teaching and learning, demands an extra burden of care. Using an example from our own recent experience we illustrate the need for skills diversity in teams teaching and raise questions related to traditional assessment in mathematics.