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:
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.