** Using WeBWorK **

Schedule:

1:00 - 1:20 A. Pizer Introduction to WeBWorK
1:25 - 1:45 K. Clark & T. Hagedorn Using Webwork with Linear Algebra ATLAST Problems
1:50 - 2:10 G. LaRose Using WeBWorK for Quizzes and Tests
2:15 - 2:35 J. Jones The National Problem Library
2:40 - 3:00 D. Cervone The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Writing Problems Using WeBWorK's New Parser
3:05 - 3:25 W. Wheeler Integrating Streaming Video Instruction into WeBWorK Homework Problems
3:30 - 4:00 V. Roth Question & Answer Session

Abstracts:

Introduction to WeBWorK

We will present a brief introduction to WeBWorK aimed at people unfamiliar with the system. WeBWorK is a program which allows students to do their mathematical homework interactively over the web. It is currently being used by over 100 colleges, universities and high schools in courses such as college algebra, pre- calculus to vector calculus, differential equations, linear algebra and statistics. WeBWorK can handle most homework problems typically used in such courses and is distributed with an extensive library of problems.

Using Webwork with Linear Algebra ATLAST Problems

We have incorporated a series of problems from the ATLAST collection into webwork. These problems are used in a lab setting where students use MATLAB to work on applied linear algebra problems. The computer modules allow students to better understand the connection between the theory of Linear Algebra and it uses.

Using WeBWorK for Quizzes and Tests

While WeBWorK was originally developed as a homework delivery system, it now includes a "GatewayQuiz" module that allows its use to administer quizzes or tests. These can require a proctor or not, may enforce a time limit and may include questions that are taken from a list of options. In this panel presentation, will discuss how the GatewayQuiz module fits into the WeBWorK homework system, and different ways in which such quizzes or tests may be used.

The National Problem Library

We will discuss the National Problem Library, including what it is, how to obtain a copy of it, how to install it, how bugs are handled, and how to update your copy.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Writing Problems Using WeBWorK's New Parser

WeBWorK 2 includes a new mathematical parser that has native support for a wider range of objects, such as points, vectors, matrices, intervals, unions and arbitrary lists. These are available not just in student answers, but within the body of the problem as well, and this allows for greater flexibility in writing problems than ever before. In this talk, we will discuss some of the problem-writing methods that the new parser makes possible, and compare them to the traditional approaches, when possible.

Integrating Streaming Video Instruction into WeBWorK Homework Problems

WeBWorK has long provided a facility for incorporating hints into WeBWorK problems. This is a valuable method for incorporating instruction into WeBWorK at the point in time when students are most open to it, namely, when they are they are struggling to solve a challenging homework problem. However, when the challenge concerns a theoretical matter or an algorithmic process, a textual hint may not be an adequate replacement for the individual tutoring that the students need.

A decade ago, with funding from the Lilly Endowment, the Mathematics Department at Indiana Unversity, produced a late night, call-in, campus-cable mathematics show - The Finite Show - as a method to provide tutorial instruction on assigned homework problems in the freshman Finite Mathematics course, which has an enrollment of approximately 5,000 students each year. The program was very popular with students and improved their learning. But the high production costs precluded the continuation of live shows after the end of the Lilly grant. Instead, The Finite Show went into reruns of the video-taped highlights. However, after several years, even these became impractical due to costs and the deterioration of the video tapes. Because of the instructional value of these video tutorials, they were converted into Real-Player streaming videos. WeBWorK versions of the video-taped homework problems were created, and links to the streaming videos were incorporated into the WeBWorK problems so that students could watch real-time solutions of generic versions of the problems that they couldn't solve on their own. These streaming video solutions have proved to be both very popular with students and highly productive instructional tools.

Because of the instructional value of these streaming videos, there has been a desire to create comparable videos for other courses, especially a high enrollment business calculus course, based on the Applied Calculus textbook by Hughes-Hallet et al . But repeating the grant-funded process of an actual television series is not an option.

Instead, following the lead of the Prof. Carl Wassgren of Purdue University's Mechanical Engineering Department, we have found that one can use a Tablet PC equipped with TechSmith's

Camtasia Studio video-capture software to produce short, narrated, streaming video solutions of generic versions of WeBWorK problems, which can be linked into the text of WeBWorK problems. These videos provide real-time tutorials to help students learn the theory and processes required to solve homework problems.

This talk will provide a demonstration of these tutorials and their production.

Question & Answer Session

Vicki will lead a Question & Answer Session for any questions relation to WeBWorK.