Release notes for WeBWorK 1.9.05
Version 1.9.05 of WeBWorK and version 1.9.05 of the Rochester WeBWorK Problem Library are available for downloading.
WeBWorK version 1.9.05 will be the final release of WeBWorK1 (which we will refer to as Classic WeBWorK) with feature enhancements. If necessary, we will release versions with bug fixes. The new version of WeBWorK, WeBWorK2, has been released but conservative users may want to stick with WeBWorK1 at least for a little while. If a course is setup using WeBWorK1, it can be accessed simultaneously by either WeBWorK1 or WeBWorK2 and this is a conservative way to transform to WeBWorK2. WeBWorK1 still has a few features on the professor page not yet implemented in WeBWorK2 and has been widely used and tested.
You can tell what major version you are running by looking at the "WeBWorK Logo" at the
top of (e.g.) the login page. The version number appears on the right side.
A more precise version number is given at the top of the file
.../webwork/system/lib/Global.pm.
To begin downloading files, click on the "Software Download" link to the left.
If you want to see what types of problems exist for WeBWorK (both WeBWorK1 and WeBWorK2), you can get a pdf copy of the Rochester WeBWorK Problem Library at http://webhost.math.rochester.edu/downloadwebwork/download/refer/Rochester_problib.pdf . Note that this is a 534 page document containing over 4200 problems.
The major new feature apparent to students in WeBWorK 1.9.05 is the jsMath viewing mode which displays mathematics using re sizable native fonts. jsMath was developed by Davide Cervone and information on it is available at http://www.math.union.edu/~dpvc/jsMath/ . All known bugs in WeBWorK 1.9 have been corrected. Perhaps the most evident was that under Show Past Answers, a professor would see not only all answers a student submitted, but also answers a student just previewed so that the professor couldn't distinguish between submitted and previewed answers. Internally WeBWorK 1.9.05 incorporates some new methods from WeBWorK2, e.g. when generating and caching dvipng images.
Courses running under WeBWorK 1.5 or later will run without change under WeBWorK 1.9.
The templates_X.X_XX-MONTH-XX-XXXX.tar.gz file contains a library over 4200 WeBWorK problems (up from 3900 last year) covering pre- calculus, first year calculus, vector calculus, differential equations, linear algebra, probability, and statistics. Jun Wang reorganized the collection of trigonometry problems and added new trigonometry problems from various libraries. Note that trigonometry problems form older distributions have been moved to other locations in the library.
The current version of all problems (and WeBWorK system files if you want to live on the bleeding edge) can be obtained by connecting to http://webhost.math.rochester.edu/webworkdocs/ , clicking on "Software Download" and then on "Experimental CVS for WeBWorK." The Rochester problem library is under the CVS Root UR Problem Library and the system files are under UR WeBWorK System. In addition at this site you can find problem libraries from Cal State Long Beach (CSLB), Detroit County Day School (DCDS), Dartmouth, Indiana, Ohio State, Stony Brook, and Union College. If you have written WeBWorK problems and are are willing to share them, please contact us and we will add your problems to the repository.
If you are interested in using WeBWorK, but are not ready to install it at your institution, we can host small (say under 100 student) WeBWorK courses at Rochester. This will give people the opportunity to use WeBWorK without the necessity of installing WeBWorK. If you are interested in this, please contact Mike Gage (gage@math.rochester.edu) or Arnie Pizer apizer@math.rochester.edu).
The will be sessions on WeBWorK both this summer at MathFest in Providence and at the annual AMS/MAA meeting in Atlanta in January. If you are attending, stop by and say hello.
To repeat, in order to download version 1.9 of WeBWorK, click on the "Software Download" link to the left. Click on download WeBWorK, register if you haven't already, and then click on Download Files.
Arnie Pizer and Mike Gage
