Monthly Archives: September 2011

BODMAS, BIDMAS, BEDMAS

More on simple arithmetic skills that people don’t always understand as well as they think they do, leading to difficulties at a later stage. In the OU Science Faculty we use the mnemonic BEDMAS (others use BODMAS or BIDMAS) to … Continue reading

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Throw away the handouts

I was at a meeting in Bristol yesterday ‘Using assessment to engage students and enhance their learning’. Much of the discussion was on the use of peer assessment (and plenty of interesting stuff), with a keynote from Paul Orsmond, considering student and … Continue reading

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Problems with fractions

I’ve been aware for some time that Open University science students have problems with fractions (and many things that express themselves as difficulties in other areas e.g. working out units, simplifying algebraic expressions, have their origins in poor understanding of the … Continue reading

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The significance of rounding and significant figures

I now find myself chairing the production of two new Open University modules, so writing course materials ought to take priority over writing this blog. That’s a pity, because there’s so much assessment-related that I want to reflect on. As a compromise, I’ve … Continue reading

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