PREP 2011 Web Conference III

Prep Main Page > Web Conference 3

Web-Conference 3:

Date: June 9, 3-5pm EDT

Presenters: Jason Aubrey, Dick Lane, Gavin LaRose

Session Archive

Resources

• Model Course Pages
• Good Problems Page
• Dick Lane's NPL Problems by Textbook Tally
• Web Conference Notes

Agenda

1. Follow-up on good problem rubric: additional questions and comments.
   1. Good NPL problems?
2. Residual problem authoring questions.
   1. e.g., critical points of f(x) = x + 1/x: [example 1] [example 2] [example 3]
3. Follow-up discussion on NPL: in particular, searching for problems, what data are available about NPL problems, how this plays out in practice, evaluating "good" NPL problems.
   1. Exploring: how many problems are available for Hughes-Hallett Calculus section 4.3? [NPL Browser] (Issues: tagging, directory structure, problem numbers, quality)
   2. Exploring: can we find problems similar to the critical points problem above? [rational problem set]
4. Model course discussion:
   1. What information we need to include in a model course
   2. How it should be organized and stored
   3. How problems that are newly authored for this are managed differently from NPL problems used for the course
   4. How closely or uniquely tied to a specific textbook a model course is
   5. How to adapt textbook problems to WeBWorK: what makes a good (or bad) adaptation
5. Develop an outline for model course construction (e.g., within a group, how the group can manage the distribution of the work as it's been articulated)

Follow-up

• Model course description wiki pages updated to reflect the discussion

Assignment for web conference 4

• For the course with which you are working, pick a homework assignment and find a collection of problems to fill it out.
  • Most of these will likely be from the NPL
  • Add or modify problems as needed to fill out the assignment
  • Create the assignment in the Prep WeBWorK course
  • Try to author or edit at least two problems for your set
• As you work with the NPL, make a note of two things that make it hard for you to find or work with problems in that interface, or which could make its use more productive for you