PREP 2011 Web Conference II

Resources

• Good Problems Wiki
• Sample Problems

Agenda

1. Discussion of the problems that were written for the assignment for this conference
2. Discuss papers on assessment/usability
3. Discussion of assessment and what makes a good problem, what factors are not conducive to problems usefulness. some heuristics

Conference material

• Discussion of the problems that were written for the assignment for this conference
  • Clarify any questions about problem structure
  • Discuss problems that are specifically "good" or "bad"
  • Go through and critique/comment on problems developed from assignment from first workshop---check code and usability (some error checking, mostly style and quality of problems)
• Discuss papers on assessment/usability
• Discussion of assessment and what makes a good problem, what factors are not conducive to problems usefulness. some heuristics:
  • Problems have a clear sense of what they are trying to do (e.g., develop skills, develop understanding, evaluate student understanding, etc.)
  • Problems follow Best Practices
  • Problems have "nice enough" numbers
  • The problems are clean and clear (and well-written)
  • The concepts that are being communicated and evaluated are clear
  • They have hints and solutions: support for students who are stuck or who lack other support structures
  • They are stable and well tested
• From this discussion, develop a rubric for assessing quality (technical and pedagogical) of WeBWorK problems; this is a Wiki page

[Should there be a discussion of different types of problems---fill in the blank, numerical, etc.---as part of this?]

Presenters

Jason, Gavin, Dan

Follow-up

• Revise wiki on good problems to reflect discussion

Assignment for web conference 3

• Continue work on rubric
• Explore NPL and evaluate some number of problems for the model course on which each person is working with the established rubric
  • Identify some good problems, or sub-optimal problems with suggestions to improve them, probably based on the rubric. This should also improve the rubric.
  • Specifically give 3-5 problems, types of problems or NPL information to look for, e.g.,
    • How many problems are available for the Hughes-Hallett calculus text, section 4.3?
    • What good problems are available for Stewart section need this?
    • What non-calculus courses have NPL problems?
    • Can we tell which textbook problems we're finding?
• Review sample model courses that are currently available (are there any?!)