Dr Rehan Shah has been awarded a Mathematics Interdisciplinary Collaboration grant by the London Mathematical Society (LMS) for organising a one-day workshop titled 'Assessing our assessments' focused on designing assessment questions around key mathematical proficiencies to inform the development of skills-based concept inventories in undergraduate STEM disciplines.

As part of this initiative, Dr Shah will spearhead the organisation of an in-person workshop event to be held in late May/early June 2025 at QMUL, featuring session talks and interactive hands-on activities led by himself, his QMUL undergraduate student researcher Mr Ilanthiraiyan Sivagnanamoorthy and external colleagues from Ireland, Prof Ann O'Shea and Dr Diarmaid Hyland (Maynooth University) and Dr Sinead Breen (Dublin City University) (authors and developers of the Function Concept Inventory and the Algebra Concept Inventory).

The workshop will facilitate discussions and interactions between internal and external academics and colleagues from various UK universities teaching on mathematics-based modules in STEM disciplines (mathematics, physics, engineering, etc.) at university level. Formulating assessment questions centred around critical mathematical proficiencies for specific concepts will enhance mathematics lecturers’ understanding of assessment design and provide them with a solid foundation to make effective use of existing concept inventories as well as develop new ones to address skill deficits and enhance their students’ conceptual understanding.

The workshop will be of interest to a wide range of lecturers and education staff (particularly early-career academics) involved in teaching and assessment of mathematics modules in higher education. It will also provide a valuable opportunity for cross-institutional discussions about teaching, learning and assessment in mathematics and related STEM disciplines. The participation of several key mathematics education experts involved in the workshop design and delivery will enable a fascinating exchange of ideas between participants.

The workshop insights and findings will be disseminated externally to the wider mathematics community via the LMS' activity report and upcoming conference and seminar presentations. They will also help to inform Dr Shah's large ongoing project focusing on the development of a cross-national mathematical reasoning skills assessment inventory for applied mathematicians and engineers, in collaboration with Dr Alexandra Werth (Cornell University).