WeBWorK and Mathematics Support Center Workshop at HKUST 10-11 June 2014

On June 10-11, 2014, the HKUST Mathematics Department and Center for Enhanced Learning and Teaching (CELT) held a workshop on the HKUST campus to share their experiences implementing WeBWorK@HKUST, and the Mathematics Support Center. Besides talks by Mathematics Department personnel on their experiences with WeBWorK and the Mathematics Support Center, the workshop also had keynote addresses by WeBWorK co-originator Professor Michael Gage of the University of Rochester, and Professor Robert Megginson, former Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education at the University of Michigan.

Slides from the presentations:

WeBWorK@UST
What is WeBWorK?
WeBWorK is a freely available open-source online homework system for mathematics and science courses. Using a web browser, a teacher can select problems from a large problem library in the WeBWorK system and arrange them into individualized online problem sets. The problem library -- which is constantly being updated by many contributors -- has over 25,000 mathematical problems. They are organized and arranged in categories, such as secondary algebra, precalculus, single and multi-variable calculus, statistics, and other topics. Some key features of WeBWorK are:
  • Students can access their problem sets and submit answers through a web browser, and receive immediate feedback on the correctness of their answers.
  • Specifics of a selected problem, e.g. the numbers in the problem, are randomized so that a students will be assigned his or her individual version of the problem. With individualized problem sets, students can work together but will have to enter their own work to receive credit.
  • Number of attempts for each problem can be assigned by the teacher.
  • The system keeps real-time statistics of student performance which can be accessed online by the teacher.
Information about WeBWorK can be found at http://webwork.maa.org
More than 500 institutions worldwide have successively used WeBWorK, with the vast majority located in the USA and Canada. HKUST is currently the only institution in east Asia that has the experience to operate its own WeBWorK server. Notable secondary schools with courses hosted on MAA WeBWork servers in the UK and Asia are:
  • Hills Road Sixth FormCollege in Cambridge United Kingdom,
  • Shanghai Community International School- Pudong China,
  • The High School Affiliated to Renmin University Of China in Beijing, China.
A demonstration of WeBWorK@HKUST can be accessed using the username/password combination demouser/10june2014 at the URL
            http://demo.webwork.math.ust.hk

What is the Mathematics Support Center?
As a synergistic complement to WeBWorK, the HKUST Mathematics Department, has also established a best practice infrastructure of a mathematics support center. The purpose of such a center is to offer walk-in tutoring service for students taking mathematics service courses. The support center is typically open 25-40 hours per week and the center is used by a student as a replacement of an office hour visit to their course instructor or teaching assistant. The ability that a student can obtain help from the center during hours when their instructor is not holding office hours is a distinct positive feature of the center.