Integrating Online Diagnostic Tests in a First Year Engineering Class

Deonarain Brijlall; Noor Ally

doi:10.29333/ejmste/8396

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Deonarain Brijlall ¹ ^* , Noor Ally ¹

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¹ Durban University of Technology, SOUTH AFRICA^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

The narrative permeating higher education institutions globally is the assimilation of advancing information and communications technology into mainstream Mathematics Education. In this paper we report on a mixed mode case study which explored possible mathematical gaps that created barrier/s when engineering students (n=162) worked with the online diagnostic tests. These engineering students were provided with online tasks on the learner management system (LMS) on factorization, fractions and logarithms. The study was carried out at a University of Technology in South Africa. The data collected from the LMS and written responses of students to quizzes were analysed. Findings emanating from the data analysis indicated that 1) all diagnostic tests logged positive increase in group averages, 2) greater repetition by students invoked better procedural proficiency and 3) better understanding of the basic mathematics leads to greater success in higher mathematics.

Keywords

diagnostic
blended learning
procedural proficiency

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 16, Issue 10, October 2020, Article No: em1881

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/8396

Publication date: 17 Jul 2020

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How to cite this article

APA

Brijlall, D., & Ally, N. (2020). Integrating Online Diagnostic Tests in a First Year Engineering Class. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 16(10), em1881. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/8396

Vancouver

Brijlall D, Ally N. Integrating Online Diagnostic Tests in a First Year Engineering Class. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2020;16(10):em1881. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/8396

AMA

Brijlall D, Ally N. Integrating Online Diagnostic Tests in a First Year Engineering Class. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2020;16(10), em1881. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/8396

Chicago

Brijlall, Deonarain, and Noor Ally. "Integrating Online Diagnostic Tests in a First Year Engineering Class". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2020 16 no. 10 (2020): em1881. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/8396

Harvard

Brijlall, D., and Ally, N. (2020). Integrating Online Diagnostic Tests in a First Year Engineering Class. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 16(10), em1881. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/8396

MLA

Brijlall, Deonarain et al. "Integrating Online Diagnostic Tests in a First Year Engineering Class". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 16, no. 10, 2020, em1881. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/8396