Mathematics eAssessment using Numbas: experiences at Kingston with a partially 'flipped' classroom

Kingston University recently revised its 'Academic Framework‘, moving from 15 to 30 credit modules with an added emphasis on increasing formative assessment. Following a National HE STEM Programme project transferring Newcastle‘s Numbas maths eAssessment system to Kingston we would like to share our experiences of using Numbas for low-stakes summative and formative assessments, both in the old 15 credit and new 30 credit frameworks at Kingston: Numbas has been central to our strategy for increasing the formative assessment opportunities in first-year Linear Algebra without increasing our marking load, and for providing students with opportunities for formative feedback that is designed to aid their understanding of the material. The system and our eAssessment questions are publicly available and have successfully replaced a paper-based approach that used static, low-stakes summative assessments, with eAssessments that students use for formative feedback, developing their skills in and outside of timetabled PC labs. We will present some initial results around the engagement of students and their understanding of key topics (notably Gaussian Elimination), comparing primarily lecture-based teaching with a partially "flipped" approach that emphasised students‘ own preparation and computer-based self-evaluation using Numbas and Matlab.