AMS Survey of Web-based Assessment and Testing in Mathematics Departments

数学科学(21)这个项目正在研究顶尖大学数学系越来越多地使用基于网络的评估和测试软件(WATS)。近年来，几个数学系和项目已经将这些基于计算机的作业系统从实验类别中剔除，他们正在数千名学生中使用它们。有可靠的教育研究支持数学家的本能信念，即一个人通过做数学来学习数学，即通过解决大量不同类型的问题，通常是作为家庭作业。基于计算机的作业系统有可能对学生的学习产生重大影响，而投资相对较少。电脑作业的一个最有力的例子是在许多大学，这些大学缺乏资源来给大一新生课程的家庭作业评分，并根据建议的家庭作业每周进行简短的测验。在家庭作业不可能手工评分的情况下，WATS的即时反馈和个性化作业(例如，每个学生的问题版本中不同的数字)分别在改善学习和减少抄袭方面具有明显的价值。预计其他大学和学院数学系将越来越多地考虑使用WATS。美国数学学会正在收集、分析和传播有关本科数学课程的WATS信息，特别关注新生水平的课程。这项为期18个月的努力将产生一份AMS在线出版物，旨在帮助数学系就是否使用基于计算机的作业系统做出更明智的选择。如果一个部门的决定是肯定的，这项研究将帮助该部门决定使用哪个系统。如果一个部门的决定是否定的，这项研究将给该部门一个明确的理由来拒绝基于计算机的家庭作业。为此，调查将收集有关基于计算机的作业如何影响学生学习的信息。这项调查将产生一份报告，提炼出数学系使用基于计算机的作业系统的经验，并给出它们在智力和实用方面的优点，以及对学生学习的缺点。

Mathematical Sciences (21) This project is studying the growing use of Web-based Assessment and Testing Software (WATS) in mathematics departments at leading universities. In recent years, several mathematics departments and programs have taken these computer-based homework systems out of the experimental category, and they are using them with thousands of students. There is solid education research backing up the instinctive belief of mathematicians that one learns mathematics by doing it, i.e., by solving a large number of different sorts of problems, usually as homework. Computer-based homework systems have the potential to make a major impact on student learning for a comparatively modest investment. One of the strongest cases for computer-based homework is at the many universities that lack the resources to grade homework in large freshman courses and resort to short weekly quizzes based on suggested homework assignments. In cases where hand-grading of homework is not possible, the instant feedback and individualized assignments (e.g., different numbers in each student's version of a problem) of a WATS have obvious value in terms of improved learning and reduced copying, respectively. Increasingly, other university and college mathematics departments are going to be expected to consider the use of WATS. The American Mathematical Society is collecting, analyzing and disseminating information about WATS for undergraduate mathematics courses, with special attention to freshman-level courses. This 18-month effort will result in an AMS on-line publication that will be designed to help mathematics departments make more informed choices about whether to use computer-based homework systems. If a department's decision is positive, the study will help that department decide which system to use. If a department's decision is negative, the study will give that department a well-articulated reason for the rejection of computer-based homework. To these ends, the survey will collect information about how computer-based homework affects student learning. This survey will lead to a report that distills the experiences of mathematics departments using computer-based homework systems and gives their intellectual and practical merits, as well as drawbacks, for student learning.