Gamification - An interesting read

The article by Rick Raymer makes interesting reading as it compares educating to game play in video games. I find this comparison amusing for two reason. Firstly, for most of our studying at home competes for time with lots of other activities, video games being one of them. Hence we are taking inspiration from one of the competitors. Secondly, I myself am a gameaholic so i could relate to almost all the terminology and scenarios that the author mentions.

Couple of ideas that I found worth using are as follows

The non linear progression of courses can provide students with flexibility and will give them more control over their learning ability.

The measurement of progress using graphics or character upgrades is something that will catch on with the students very easily and I think they would be able to relate to it better.

Literature discussion

Amongst the three articles that I had short-listed, I found the research done by Abbasi and Iqbal to be interesting enough to share. Their research was conducted to find out the ratio of mathematics educators at post/under graduate level in Pakistan, who make the mathematics courses livelier for their students.

They chose three criteria namely dedication, logical reasoning and concrete examples and use of technology to measure the interest a course can generate amongst the students. The reasoning for using dedication as a criterion, given in the research is also very interesting. The researchers have concluded that if the educators proclaim their passion and dedication towards the subject in front of their students, it has a positive effect on the students’ motivations levels and moral.

In conclusion they researchers have shown that the correlation of using technology in class to the students’ perception of the educators’ attempt to make their course interesting is just about 99%. It is closely followed by the logical reasoning and concrete examples at about 98%.

A few questions though remain unanswered from this article. For example the authors have not defined the terms "interesting", "dedication", "logical reasoning" etc. Secondly the authors do not show a correlation between making the course interesting and it enhancing the understanding of the students. We can assume it has proportionality but yet a deeper insight into it would have been beneficial.

I tend to agree with their research in general since I am a strong believer in making “boring” courses to be more “student friendly”. This helps to catch the students’ attention and somehow it can help the learners to see the same content from a different, more interesting vantage point hence creating a genuine curiosity, ultimately leading to a better understanding. 

Mobile technologies

The article “Role of mobile digital technology in fostering the construction of pedagogical and content knowledge of mathematics” by Mohan Chinnapan discusses the findings of a research conducted on the uses of smartphones for sharing mathematics concepts and pedagogies with a peer. It also looks at the types of representations and models that can be constructed using a smartphone.

Although the research was conducted with teacher at a primary school level, the facts hold true for higher education too. Smartphones can be used not only as a tool to discuss and share material with fellow educators as well as the students. The biggest advantage I can see in this regard is the capturing of visuals (still or moving) of real-life engineering mathematical phenomena. One example that I can think of in this regard is the mixing of two streams of a fluid which are represented in mathematics by a tangent hyperbolic function. Another good example is the rate of change of volume of an inflating balloon which is an application of partial differentiation.

Smartphones can only be used to make videos of peer tutoring that takes place between students informally in a classroom. These videos can then be shared with the rest of the groups and peers for future referencing and access.

Students can also use smartphones to take audio snippets, images and videos of how certain complicated mathematical problem are solved in class. This can save the student the time spent copying and he can concentrate on the understanding of the solution. Again sharing and retrieving these files are as easy a click of a button.

The email and messenger facilities on the smartphones provide instant sharing opportunities with all the stakeholders and the extended memories of these handsets can store data which can be used throughout the study period.

MS EXCEL and EGEN N301

I am teaching Engineering Mathematics IV (Code EGEN N301). This is the final course of mathematics that engineering students take during their under graduate studies. The course introduces concepts of statistics, probability and three dimensional geometry. It also builds upon the calculus knowledge of students from their previous courses by teaching the applications of calculus. Lastly this course covers topics involving numerical techniques.    

The assessments for this course include 3 CR exams worth 25%, 25% and 30% each. The remaining 20% grade is available for quizzes, assignments and homework and it is up to the prerogative of the teacher.

I would like to use MS EXCEL in this course for teaching the numerical techniques more specifically teaching numerical differentiation. For numerical differentiation the students have to find the values of the function at specific interval for a particular value of the function and then to compare its value with by finding the derivate of the function and then replacing the given value of the variable.

There are three methods that are taught during numerical differentiation namely forward difference, backward difference and central difference and the student has to employ all three along with the normal differentiation to find the values of the function.

Although the three methods are fairly similar, the complexity of the function makes it into a cumbersome process and the students tend to struggle in doing these four calculations correctly all the time.

In my opinion it would be a case of learning with technology rather than learning from technology. As Jonassen mentions, technologies should function as a tool kit which support the required intellectual functions of the course.  

The biggest advantage of using MS EXCEL would be the eradication of memorizing and introduction of understanding. I think this will enhance their deeper understanding of the content. It will also improve their problem solving and critical thinking skills since helping them in finding their mistakes more quickly and efficiently, saving them time they would have otherwise spent if they were solving it using the conventional pen and paper method.

The students will be expected to work in groups of three. They would be taught how to progam formulae and functions in MS EXCEL. I intend making a video of this session so it can be used for any students who miss the class or would like extra help. This video can also be used for future teaching of this topic. 

MS EXCEL and Calculus - What do the others say?

While searching for educational uses of MS EXCEL, I came across many interesting articles and papers.

Here's a sneak peek of what the most interesting ones talk about.

Abbasi and Iqbal did some research on the proportion of mathematics educators at post/under graduate level in Pakistan, who make the mathematics courses more livelier for their students.

Article available at

http://0-www.tandfonline.com.library.hct.ac.ae/doi/pdf/10.1080/00207390902759600

Another one is a presentation by Prof. H Y Far on the uses of MS EXCEL in numerical calculus. This paper focuses more closely on topics similar to ones which I would like to pursue in my class.

Presentation available at

 http://faculty.lonestar.edu/hfar/Numerical%20Calculus%20with%20Excel.pdf

Lastly

Dogan Ibrahim presented a paper on the requirements of engineering and science teaching and how EXCEL can be used in teaching of science subjects.

Text available on

http://ac.els-cdn.com/S1877042809000603/1-s2.0-S1877042809000603-main.pdf?_tid=564ee0f360eeba5b5e4b1ed7594476fb&acdnat=1332335262_c1dc6376d1a084581c341f6d72f419dd

How and why

The course where I intend using technology is the final engineering mathematics for semester students.

The last learning outcome of the course involves numerical techniques which involve solving differential equations and derivatives numerically, amongst other sub learning outcomes.

My biggest reason for using technology is to give the students a taste of something different. Traditionally these topics are covered using pen and paper but with the usage of technology, I am sure the students will find it more interesting.

Secondly, number crunching plays a major part in solving numerical technique questions and there are always chances of hitting the wrong button on the calculator. These kind of mistakes be reduced as EXCEL with do most of the arithmetic operations.

One powerful help that EXCEL provides is prompting for incorrect formulae input which otherwise the students will not be able to find out easily.

Typically I would give a mini test to the students on these topics which would last 45 minutes or so and most of that time is spent by the students on calculators. Using EXCEL will reduce the time consumed in this regard too.

In conclusion, using EXCEL will test the students’ understanding of the concept of these numerical techniques with them not getting penalised for their lack of proficiency with a calculator.    

Learning networks

I can consider myself blessed that I have been a part of a learning network throughout my engineering career. That goes to show that a) Engineers are a helpful lot. And b) that that field is so vast we need help from each other, always.

My informal learning network was actually formed during the student days at UNISA and it has had additions with passing time. It became international as I studied in Europe and even more diversified as I found employment here in Dubai.

The level of contact with this bunch of people is varied and dependent. My colleagues at wotk are always there to help, advice and support. I am still in touch with my chief engineer from my previous employer, an expert in fluid mechanics, both socially and professionally. Other members of the network are contacted professionally as need arises.

The tools used for keeping are the usual social media and email although I love the face to face interaction with the colleagues.

Lastly the importance of these informal groups cannot be denied. You always have someone to lean on or to share your knowledge and experiences.