Writing WeBWorK problems in a Differential Equations Class
Overview
This was an assignment in a junior-level Differential Equations class at Fitchburg State University. It was also part of an Open Pedagogy group in which all participants produced materials for a class in an Open Pedagogy sense. The goal of the group was twofold: 1) to learn what open pedagogy is, both in the general sense as well as in one's particular academic field and 2) to develop an Open Pedagogy assignment in a current or future class.
Assignment: Create WeBWorK problems in a differential equation class
Although this was a very specific example in a specific course, this assignment can be generalized to other courses using WeBWorK or other platforms.
This is a multistage project to create some WeBWorK problems. In short, you will write 3 WeBWorK problems that come from differential equations.
Stage 1: Write out the text of 3 problems. The problems can come from any of the topics that we have (or will cover). You may want to look ahead to some of the other chapters instead of looking back. The problems that you pick
- should be able to be randomized. That is, there should be specific parameters in the problem that can give unique problems to students.
- should be from different parts/chapters of the course.
- may have the ability to include plots, but not required.
The first stage of this is due on XXXXX and you can simply write out problems that you are interested in. Explain what parts of the problem will be randomized. You should also provide a solution written up for the problem.
Stage 2: Take the 3 problems and create actual webwork problems. You will have access to an editing environment and there will be a session on creating and editing problems. For this stage, I will give you access to a webwork course where you can do some editing of the problems. I will provide a workshop for one of the days to get you started as well as giving sample problems that you can use to build on. There is always a little bit of coding needed and I'm happy to help you through this. For each of the 3 problems:
- make sure there is randomization
- give metadata at the top of the problem. This includes your name, date, institution (Fitchburg State) and subject/chapter/section for the problem. The chapter will be Differential Equations. You can look in the Library Brower for other problems to determine the chapter and section.
- give a solution to your problem coded up in the solution section of the problem
Stage 2 will be due on XXXX and your three problems should be written up in full with randomization.
Stage 3: A few days after Stage 2 is completed, you will receive feedback. Please incorporate any recommended changes to your problems and submit by XXXX
Learning Objectives and Grading Rubric
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to
- Develop problems in Differential Equations
- Think broadly about a mathematical problem
- Use a programming language to create random problems and solutions
Grading the Project
Since this is a unique project, I want to lay out a grading rubric. The total number of possible points is 100. First, overall, you should select problems from different chapters/parts of the course (max 10 points)
For each problem,
- Create a working problem with some randomization that will give quite a few unique problems. (15 pts)
- Ensure that all of the metadata is entered correctly. (5 pts)
- A solution to the problem with the proper randomization. (10 pts)