Mathematics conference

A reliable assessment of teaching-learning strategies was the focus of the Higher Colleges of Technology event

A ssessing how well students do in mathematics is a reflection of how well their teacher has performed, said Jan Winter, a British academician from Bristol University in her keynote address at the Assessment 3600 conference held at the Abu Dhabi Women’s College (ADWC) recently.

Today, the educational curriculum blends technology with a variety of progressive methods and strategies. At the heart of the teaching-learning cycle however there remains a crucial need for valid and reliable assessment.

The Higher Colleges of Technology therefore organised its second maths conference on this theme.

The international conference brought together mathematics teachers and educators from all over the UAE, along with two keynote speakers from the UK and Australia.

The main focus of the conference was on teaching strategies and assessing them. Dr John Malone of Curtin University in Australia said that while assessments are often conducted at the end of the study course, it can really be embedded in the subject.

Malone led a workshop on assessing constructive and informed teaching. He explored the validity and reliability of problem solving strategies, and how the teaching of these strategies is evaluated.

Other workshops included one led by Jan Winter titled Making Them Think - How Assessment Can Support Learners’ Understanding. The workshop offered assessment ideas and activities.

Dr Nicholas Gara, Director of the Abu Dhabi Women’s College, said that the conference will enable educators to share in teaching and assessment strategies, resource development issues and to further explore online learning initiatives.

Jim Horton, Vice-Chancellor, Higher Colleges of Technology, said: “Assessment is probably one of the most complex things that we do as educators; to me that’s what is interesting about this conference.”

Dr Khalid Abdullah, a participant from Abu Dhabi Men’s College (ADMC), said that online teaching technology helps teachers.

“I’m not against the old way of teaching, we’re still using the old way, but we’re backing it up with extra technology. Now we can have interactive assessment.”

Abdullah also added that special care has to be taken to teach Arabic speaking students in English.

Assessment 3600 was ADWC’s second conference. Last year’s conference talked about online blended learning in mathematics, with speeches and workshops associated to the topic.

The writer is a student of communication and media sciences at Zayed University