An Enhancement of WebWork - a Web-Based Homework Program

Indiana University, Bloomington IN

Investigators

Abstract

Mathematical Sciences (21) This project is focusing on the adoption and enhancement of WeBWork, an internet- based system developed at the University of Rochester for generating and delivering homework problems to students. The project is adapting WeBWork to several areas of the mathematics curriculum, especially at the elementary level. It is also investigating its applications in other disciplines, particularly physics and economics. Once the project enhances WeBWork to a level that will make it easily adaptable and usable in a variety of environments, it will serve as a resource to other clients, including other departments at the university, other universities and several high schools in the state. The project is modifying the interface of WeBWork so that a faculty member with minimal computer skills can manage an entire course independently. It is also developing a default set of homework problems which an instructor can change or select by accessing a database of linked problems. WeBWork now provides only answers to problems. As a much needed aid to the students, this project is developing complete solutions to problems and creating a database, that would be separate from the homework exercises, consisting of "tutorials" that would provide meaningful hints and step-by-step solutions to problems. Students have indicated a great interest in such a bank of "practice problems." At the present time, WeBWork is structured to accommodate only pre-calculus and calculus. Thsi project is adapting it to Finite Mathematics, which covers topics from sets, probability, linear systems, matrices, linear programming and applications to problems from business and the social sciences. WeBWork has many possible applications to courses of this type, but at present it cannot accommodate linear analysis, particularly matrix manipulation. This project is utilizing Maple within WeBWork to analyze and process student answers for this course. This takes WeBWork in a significantly new direction. Overall the project's objective is to make WeBWork easy-to-use, complete and sufficiently flexible to be employed in a variety of environments. To assist in making WeBWork more easily adapted, workshops are being held during the academic year and during the summer months so that potential instructors can more easily see how the program can be implemented and customized for their own particular use.