George Kinnear - University of Edinburgh

Research

Online assessment

I have a longstanding, practical interest in automated assessment of mathematics.

I led a project to establish an agenda for research on this topic.

Kinnear, G., Jones, I., Sangwin, C., Alarfaj, M., Davies, B., Fearn, S., Foster, C., Heck, A., Henderson, K., Hunt, T., Iannone, P., Kontorovich, I., Larson, N., Lowe, T., Meyer, J. C., O’Shea, A., Rowlett, P., Sikurajapathi, I., & Wong, T (2022). A collaboratively-derived research agenda for e-assessment in undergraduate mathematics. International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40753-022-00189-6

Project website: https://maths.github.io/e-assessment-research-agenda/
Kinnear, G., Jones, I., & Sangwin, C. (2020). Towards a shared research agenda for computer-aided assessment of university mathematics. A. Donevska-Todorova, E. Faggiano, J. Trgalova, Z. Lavicza, R. Weinhandl, A. Clark-Wilson, & H.-G. Weigand (Eds.) Mathematics Education in the Digital Age (MEDA) PROCEEDINGS. pp. 377–384. https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-02932218

I have various projects underway to investigate aspects of the influence of online assessment on students' learning.

Kinnear, G. (2022). Comparing example generation with classification in the learning of new mathematics concepts. Research in Mathematics Education. https://doi.org/10.1080/14794802.2022.2152086

I have made extensive use of the STACK online assessment system in my teaching, particularly in the fully-online course, Fundamentals of Algebra and Calculus.

Kinnear, G., Wood, A. K., Gratwick, R. (2022). Designing and evaluating an online course to support transition to university mathematics. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 53(1), 11-34. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020739X.2021.1962554
Sangwin, C. J., Kinnear, G. (2022). Coherently Organised Digital Exercises and Expositions. PRIMUS, 32(8), 927-938. https://doi.org/10.1080/10511970.2021.1999352
Gratwick, R., Kinnear, G., Wood, A. K. (2020). An online course promoting wider access to university mathematics. Marks, R. (Ed.) Proceedings of the British Society for Research into Learning Mathematics 40 (1). https://bsrlm.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/BSRLM-CP-40-1-04.pdf
Kinnear, G. (2019). Delivering an online course using STACK. Contributions to the 1st International STACK conference 2018. http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2565969

Diagnostic testing and assessment analysis

I contributed to the development of the Mathematics Diagnostic Test which has been in use at the University of Edinburgh since 2011. Each year it is taken online by around 1000 new students who are enrolled in courses taught by the School of Mathematics.

In 2017 I secured funding from the Princpal's Teaching Award Scheme for a two-year project to evaluate the performance of the test and to implement improvements.

Akveld, M., & Kinnear, G. (2023). Improving mathematics diagnostic tests using item analysis. International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/0020739X.2023.2167132
Kinnear, G. (2021). Two-stage collaborative exams have little impact on subsequent exam performance in undergraduate mathematics. International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education, 7(1), 33-60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40753-020-00121-w
Bailey, T., Kinnear, G., Sangwin, C., & O'Hagan, S. (2020). Modifying closed-book exams for use as open-book exams. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/pvzb7
Kinnear, G., Bennett, M., Binnie, R., Bolt, R. and Zheng, Y. (2020). Reliable application of the MATH taxonomy sheds light on assessment practices. Teaching Mathematics and its Applications: An International Journal of the IMA, 39(4), 281-295. https://doi.org/10.1093/teamat/hrz017
Kinnear, G. (2018). Improving an online diagnostic test via item analysis. Proceedings of the Fifth ERME Topic Conference on Mathematics Education in the Digital Age. University of Copenhagen, pp. 315–316. https://www.math.ku.dk/english/research/conferences/2018/meda/proceedings/MEDA_2018_Proceedings.pdf Poster available at: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4925992

Proof

Drawing on my background in pure mathematics, I have an ongoing interest in the educational aspects of mathematical proof.

Sangwin, C. J., Kinnear, G. (2021). Investigating insight and rigour as separate constructs in mathematical proof. https://doi.org/10.35542/osf.io/egks4
Sangwin, C. J., Kinnear, G. (2018). Contradiction and contrapositive, what is the difference?. The Scottish Mathematical Council Journal 48, pp. 84-90. http://www.scottishmathematicalcouncil.org/wp1/smc-journal-48-2018/

Comparative judgement

I am interested in the use of comparative judgement, both as a research tool and in applications.

Tanswell, F., Davies, B., Jones, I., & Kinnear, G. (2023). Comparative judgement for experimental philosophy: A method for assessing ordinary meaning in vehicles in the park cases. Philosophical Psychology, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/09515089.2023.2263036

Classroom practices

I was the principal investigator on a multi-disciplinary project, Classroom Practices and Lecture Recording, which made use of recordings of lectures to characterise the range of teaching practices taking place in various classes. We are using this data to investigate the relationship between classroom pedagogy and various other measures such as student attainment and student usage of lecture recordings.

The FILL+ website has further details about ongoing work related to this project.

Wood, A. K., & Kinnear, G. (2023). Using classroom observation tools to characterize large classes. In A. K. Wood (Ed.), Effective Teaching in Large STEM Classes. IOP Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1088/978-0-7503-5231-4ch4
Wood, A. K., Christie, H., MacKay, J. R. D., & Kinnear, G. (2022). Using data about classroom practices to stimulate significant conversations and aid reflection. International Journal for Academic Development. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360144X.2022.2103817
Kinnear, G., Smith, S., Anderson, R., Gant, T., MacKay, J. R. D., Docherty, P., Rhind, S., Galloway, R. (2021). Developing the FILL+ tool to reliably classify classroom practices using lecture recordings. Journal for STEM Education Research, 4(2), 194-216. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41979-020-00047-7
Bailey, T., Kinnear, G., O'Hagan, S., Reynolds, R., & Wheeler, R. (2021). A model for focussed small-group workshops in mathematics. https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/s932g
Smith, S., Anderson, R., Gant, T., & Kinnear, G. (2020). FILL+ Training Manual. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/27863

Dr George Kinnear