Conceptualising, Implementing and Evaluating the Use of Digital Technologies to Enhance Mathematical Understanding: Reflections on an Innovation-Development Cycle

This chapter first outlines the challenges related to teaching in quantitative disciplines (for example, mathematics, statistics, engineering, science and economics) in on-campus and online environments. It is followed by an analysis of the contribution that our decade of published and unpublished research has made to resolving these challenges. In so doing, we highlight a phased cycle of innovation (that is, conceptualising, implementing, evaluating and reconceptualising), and report the impact of the work on learning and teaching across different environments. Finally, the chapter provides an overview of developments that have worked and that are still successfully used, and others that did not proceed beyond trial status. Unsuccessful trials are rarely reported, but we make an exception here, as they are an integral part of this innovation cycle.