Developing and applying quantitative skills maps for STEM curricula, with a focus on different modes of learning

Abstract

Mapping quantitative skills across the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) curricula will help educators identify gaps and duplication in the teaching, practice and assessment of the necessary skills. This paper describes the development and implementation of quantitative skills mapping tools for courses in STEM at a regional university that offers both on-campus and distance modes of study. Key elements of the mapping project included the identification of key graduate quantitative skills, the development of curriculum mapping tools to record in which unit(s) and at what level of attainment each quantitative skill is taught, practised and assessed, and identification of differences in the way quantitative skills are developed for on-campus and distance students. Particular attention is given to the differences that are associated with intensive schools, which consist of concentrated periods of face-to-face learning over a three-four day period, and are available to distance education students enrolled in STEM units. The detailed quantitative skills mapping process has had an impact on the review of first-year mathematics units, resulted in crucial changes to the curriculum in a number of courses, and contributed to a more integrated approach, and a collective responsibility, to the development of students' quantitative skills for both face-to-face and online modes of learning.

Keywords:

• curriculum
• distance education
• first-year
• on-campus vs distance modes of study
• quantitative skills
• STEM

AMS 2010 Mathematics Subject Classification code:

• 97C02

Acknowledgements

Funding for this project has been provided by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. The views expressed in this report do not necessarily reflect the views of the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching. The project reported has ethics approval (UNE HE14:175). We gratefully acknowledge the input and support of our academic colleagues. We would also like to thank Chris Cooper and Chris Reading for their help with this project, and Nick Reid and Ieva Stupans for their helpful comments on earlier drafts.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. QS will be used as an abbreviation for quantitative skill and quantitative skills.

2. Units are subjects that students enrol in as part of their course.

Additional information

Funding

Funding for this project has been provided by the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching [grant number PP10-1640].