An Enhancement of WebWork - a Web-Based Homework Program

数学科学(21)这个项目的重点是采用和加强网络工作，这是罗切斯特大学开发的一个基于互联网的系统，用于生成和交付作业问题给学生。该项目正在使网络工作适应数学课程的几个领域，特别是在小学一级。它还在研究它在其他学科中的应用，特别是物理学和经济学。一旦该项目将网络工作提升到一个水平，使其能够在各种环境中轻松适应和使用，它将成为其他客户的资源，包括该大学的其他系、该州的其他大学和几所高中。该项目正在修改网络工作的界面，以便拥有最低计算机技能的教职员工可以独立管理整个课程。它还在开发一套默认的家庭作业问题，教师可以通过访问相关问题的数据库来更改或选择这些问题。网络工作现在只提供问题的答案。作为学生迫切需要的帮助，这个项目正在开发问题的完整解决方案，并创建一个数据库，该数据库将独立于家庭作业，由提供有意义的提示和问题的逐步解决方案的“教程”组成。学生们对这样一堆“练习题”表现出了极大的兴趣。目前，网络工作的结构仅适用于微积分预科和微积分。该项目正在将其改编为有限数学，其中涵盖了从集合、概率、线性系统、矩阵、线性规划和应用到商业和社会科学问题的主题。WebWork在这类课程中有许多可能的应用，但目前它不能适应线性分析，特别是矩阵处理。本项目利用WebWork中的Maple来分析和处理学生对本课程的回答。这将把网络工作带向一个显著的新方向。总体而言，该项目的目标是使网络工作易于使用、完整和足够灵活，以便在各种环境中使用。为了帮助使网络工作更容易适应，在学年和夏季举办了研讨会，以便潜在的教师可以更容易地了解如何根据自己的特定用途实施和定制该计划。

Mathematical Sciences (21) This project is focusing on the adoption and enhancement of WeBWork, an internet- based system developed at the University of Rochester for generating and delivering homework problems to students. The project is adapting WeBWork to several areas of the mathematics curriculum, especially at the elementary level. It is also investigating its applications in other disciplines, particularly physics and economics. Once the project enhances WeBWork to a level that will make it easily adaptable and usable in a variety of environments, it will serve as a resource to other clients, including other departments at the university, other universities and several high schools in the state. The project is modifying the interface of WeBWork so that a faculty member with minimal computer skills can manage an entire course independently. It is also developing a default set of homework problems which an instructor can change or select by accessing a database of linked problems. WeBWork now provides only answers to problems. As a much needed aid to the students, this project is developing complete solutions to problems and creating a database, that would be separate from the homework exercises, consisting of "tutorials" that would provide meaningful hints and step-by-step solutions to problems. Students have indicated a great interest in such a bank of "practice problems." At the present time, WeBWork is structured to accommodate only pre-calculus and calculus. Thsi project is adapting it to Finite Mathematics, which covers topics from sets, probability, linear systems, matrices, linear programming and applications to problems from business and the social sciences. WeBWork has many possible applications to courses of this type, but at present it cannot accommodate linear analysis, particularly matrix manipulation. This project is utilizing Maple within WeBWork to analyze and process student answers for this course. This takes WeBWork in a significantly new direction. Overall the project's objective is to make WeBWork easy-to-use, complete and sufficiently flexible to be employed in a variety of environments. To assist in making WeBWork more easily adapted, workshops are being held during the academic year and during the summer months so that potential instructors can more easily see how the program can be implemented and customized for their own particular use.