"While we as educators might hate to admit it, assessment does drive student learning and is probably the one most important thing we can do to help our students learn. Formative assessment can help us as educators identify concepts that students are struggling to understand, skills they are having difficulty acquiring, or learning standards they have not yet achieved so that we can make adjustments to lessons, instructional techniques, and academic support. If we wish to use assessment as a tool to enhance student learning the provision of formative feedback is crucial. We need to help students understand not only where they have gone wrong, but also what they need to do to improve and when they have done well, we need to help them understand what is good about their work and how they can build on it and develop further. This seminar focussed on how the Department of Mathematics and the Academic Learning Centre use Numbas, a free online platform aimed at numerate disciplines, to provide students with the opportunity to practice particular types of mathematical problems, receive instant feedback and advice on where they may have gone wrong, and to attempt other similar auto-generated questions. This seminar was aimed at academic staff who teach in a numerate discipline who would like to explore how they too can provide formative assessment opportunities to their students in an efficient and effective manner. Those who attended this session: Got an overview of some of the capabilities of Numbas Learned how Numbas can be used to enhance student learning Learned how a Numbas learning resource can be uploaded to Canvas."

In recent years, the issues of poor referencing skills and plagiarism have become a significant concern for higher education practitioners. In many instances’ students are often unaware of the problems associated with plagiarism since copying from various sources has unfortunately become the norm. This problem is further compounded by the fact that many students often struggle to understand the importance and basics of essential referencing techniques. This workshop: Highlighted how CIT Library staff can assist academic staff convey the importance of referencing to their students, helping them to avoid various forms of plagiarism. Explained how online referencing software can be easily utilised to ensure effective and consistent referencing when completing notes, essays and assignments.

This workshop should be of interest to all academic staff, in particular new and early career academic staff, as it examined the work of educators such as Ken Bain, Phil Race and Bill Rogers and: - Provided some tips on preparing for the first lecture of a module in a semester. - Explored approaches, strategies and methodologies for creating and maintaining a classroom environment which promotes learning