The Learning Technology Research Group was
set up within the School
of Computer Science at the University
of Nottingham to research into the use of
computer technology to support education. The
group's research interests cover areas such
as Computer Aided Learning, assessment mechanisms,
collaborative learning environments and course
management systems.
The most significant recent development to
emerge from the group to date has been the CourseMarker
(formerly CourseMaster) system, a Computer-based
Assessment system which follows in the footsteps
of an earlier system known as Ceilidh.
Ceilidh was used to teach classes of up to
160 at Nottingham and was adopted as the basis
of a three year development throughout UK Higher
education funded under the UFC's "Teaching
and Learning Technology Programme" (TLTP).
It has been taken by over 300 institutions of
higher education in over 30 countries.
CourseMarker replaced Ceilidh and has been
successfully used in the teaching of even larger
classes at Nottingham than its predecessor.
CourseMarker is portable, international, and
has much more detailed analysis and help facilities
than Ceilidh; it too is now used by many institutions.
Within Ceilidh, courses were implemented for
the assessment of C++ programs; CourseMarker
has expanded upon this with courses run in the
assessment of student exercises in Sun's langauge
Java.
The other recent major development within the
group has been the development of the DATsys
system whose purpose is the Computer-based Assessment
of structured diagrams. DATsys is integrated
into the CourseMarker system allowing the full
range of rich feedback available in CourseMarker.
To see an overview of those individuals undertaking
research within the LTR group, go to LTR
People.
