The growing concern amongst life science disciplines and professions about undergraduates' mathematical competencies has been well documented over recent years. This presentation will provide the background to and summarise a pilot project which aims to adopt technologies used in the production of mathtutor in the development of a multimedia e-learning resource to deliver mathematics support for students of the life sciences.
mathtutor is a new mathematics e-learning resource for mathematics and science education which delivers diagnostic tests video tutorials interactive exercises animations and printable text via DVD and the Internet. A team of academics is currently working in collaboration with the EBS Trust to adapt aspects of mathtutor for life science undergraduates. We plan to adopt a contextual learning model in our creation of a problem-solving e-learning environment.
Our aim is to develop a selection of case studies and scenarios presenting each in a highly visual manner and enabling students to explore and practise the mathematics within each. The principle of this approach is that the context (i.e. the case study) triggers students to want (as opposed to need) to learn the maths. Each case study will have associated with it a series of questions tasks and calculations for students to complete. Students will also be provided with video-based tutorial support (similar to that adopted in mathtutor) for those maths topics and concepts with which they lack confidence or with which they are unfamiliar. There will also be the opportunity for students to practise and apply their skills to new case studies thus linking theory to practice.
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