What is a Model Course

Model MAA WebWork Courses

Should include:

A well-defined subject matter.

• That covers material which is commonly taught at the collegiate or advanced secondary level.
• A reasonable breadth of material that could be adjusted to fit in semester or quarter formats.
• The selection of topics and techniques which are commonly taught.
  • should be made to avoid specialized methods or topics
  • should consider current pedagogical improvements.
  • should attempt to address both computational and conceptual concerns

A syllabus.

• Including specific topics covered by the problem sets.
• Attempts should be made to avoid references to specific texts. Special model courses can be assembled for specific texts by using appropriate units from these model course and perhaps with the addition of additional specialized units.
• Should be available on the WebWork wiki site

Problem sets.

• A model course should comprise 8 to 16 problem sets in general.
  • Specific courses, such as courses aimed at the secondary level, may require more sections.
• Each set should attempt to comprise a cohesive unit of material.
• As appropriate, attempts should be made to include a problem or two which reinforce corresponding prerequisite material.
• Each problem set should be reasonably-sized with minimal repetition.
• Each model course problem should include a solution.
• Each model course problem should include appropriate hints.
• Individual set headers should list the components of the course syllabus addressed by the problem set. Items not related to the particular problem set should not be noted in these set headers. This includes references to the larger model course so that the problem set could perhaps be utilized in more than one model course.

Readings.

• Identified so that instructors can easily delete these from the problem set.
• Likely from MAA journals but all at an appropriate level and corresponding to the other material in the problem set. For lower level courses, articles from popular journals and magazines should be appropriate.
• Assigned so that their removal from the problem set does not leave material holes.

Interactive problems.

• Preferably using free resources and designed to test for concepts rather than calculations.
• Identified so that instructors can easily delete these from the problem set.
• Assigned so that their removal from the problem set does not leave material holes.

Packaging of Model Courses

Problem Sets Collections.

• "Chapters" should consist of problem set collections comprising a cohesive "chapter" of material.
• "Courses" should consist of problem set chapters.

Problem Set Review.

• Advisory Panels for problem sets should be created and review--at least annually--the syllabus and particular problems included in the course.
• Could be part of the Mathfest program as a collection of concurrent meetings with an open invitation for meeting participants to offer suggestions and perhaps get more involved in the problem selection/syllabus review and WebWork implementation.