A presentation from the STEM Annual Conference 2014.
Computer assisted assessment is now widely used to assist students in learning Mathematics in higher education with the testing system Maple TA offering a wide variety of question types tailored to Mathematics. However students often dislike having to learn programming skills. We describe methods that we have used to help Mathematics students learn Matlab by combining it with the assessment capability of Maple TA. Students are given worksheets explaining various aspects of Matlab including both numerical and symbolic calculations which they work through at a computer. By following this with exercises in Maple TA students can practise the techniques they have been learning and can get immediate feedback. Using algorithmic variables provides an endless variety of questions so that students can keep practising until they have grasped the techniques. A test in Maple TA is also set for students to take in the fifth week of the semester which counts towards the final module mark. This ensures that students engage with the early stages of learning Matlab and again provides feedback regarding any areas of weakness that they may have. This approach sets a solid foundation of basic Matlab skills which is built on in later weeks when teaching more advanced programming skills. These are tested later in the semester by coursework. Teaching programming on its own often leaves students wondering why they have to do it so the module gives context to the programming by including lectures on mathematical modelling with problems considered in lectures then explored in Matlab.
