 | WeBWorK awarded CCLI Phase 3 funding |
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We are pleased to announce that the WeBWorK project has been awarded a 5-year CCLI Phase 3 grant (DUE-0920341 "WeBWorK: Improving Student Success in Mathematics") that will be administered by the MAA. The grant will help create a permanent supportive home for WeBWorK at the MAA, providing the mathematical sciences community with dependable, long-term access to WeBWorK, and, at the same time, strengthening the ongoing maintenance and development essential to its continued viability. The WeBWorK documentation and forums have already been transferred to MAA servers (http://webwork.maa.org). Other WeBWorK resources (distributions, development code, problem libraries, etc.) will soon be moved to MAA servers, as well. In addition, the MAA will set up, host, and support WeBWorK courses on professionally maintained servers for institutions that choose not to run WeBWorK on their own. We see this as a very important new service. We anticipate that there will be a modest fee for hosting courses, but the MAA is committed to providing this as a service to the mathematical community throughout and beyond the grant cycle. Dissemination is a core part of the project that involves the WeBWorK community. The PI's will conduct two Consultant Training Sessions annually (at JMM and MathFest) during which we will train members of the WeBWorK community to conduct their own WeBWorK Outreach Workshops. We envision the WeBWorK Outreach Workshops will be held at regional meetings of the MAA, AMS, AMATYC, and similar venues. The Consultant Training Sessions will be organized in two 2.5 hour sections. The first section will equip the consultants with the information and skills needed to introduce WeBWorK to new users. The second section will include a model WeBWorK Outreach Workshop to allow the consultants-in-training to gain experience in leading workshops themselves. We will proactively recruit for the sessions, using our existing contacts in the WeBWorK community to locate people who will be successful consultants. Participants in the Consultant Training Workshops will be paid a $300 stipend, and in addition limited travel funds will be available for those without their own resources. Experience has shown that outreach meetings are more effective when conducted by at least two facilitators; thus, consultants from the same institution or the same MAA Section will be encouraged to attend the sessions in pairs. Eight pairs of consultants will be recruited for each training session. The goal is to create regional networks of consultants to facilitate future interaction among participants. Each pair of consultants will be required to commit to leading two Outreach Workshops within two years of their training session and will be paid $200 per Outreach Workshop to offset expenses. To support the community of consultants, the PIs will (1) hold two web-based follow-up training sessions for all consultants each year in order to provide an opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences and promote community among the consultants, (2) maintain a forum on the MAA site where trainers can share techniques, successes, and ideas, and (3) promote informal gatherings of all trainers from all sessions at JMM and MathFest. If you would be interested in participating in a Consultant Training Session, please contact Arnie Pizer (with a cc to Mike Gage). Another core part of the project that involves the WeBWorK community is assessment and evaluation. The project evaluation team consists of our long-term evaluator PI Vicki Roth and Flora McMartin, owner of Broad-Based Knowledge, an LLC specializing in evaluation services for innovations in technology and education. Flora will bring an outside viewpoint to the WeBWorK project. Two questions will be at the center of assessment and evaluation efforts, one focused on student outcomes and the other on our dissemination activities: (1) Does WeBWorK promote student learning in mathematics? (2) Do dissemination activities result in the successful implementation of WeBWorK? If you have an interest in either or both of these questions, please contact Vicki Roth. In addition, the grant will support upgrading the WeBWorK documentation, establishing a formal support position at MAA, and updating the WeBWorK system code, including the instructor interface. Arnold K. Pizer <apizer@math.rochester.edu>, University of Rochester Michael E. Gage <gage@math.rochester.edu>, University of Rochester Vicki Roth <vicki.roth@rochester.edu>, University of Rochester J. Michael Pearson <pearson@maa.org>, Mathematical Association of America |