Using Wikitext documents to supplement OpenStax textbooks
by Guy Vandegrift 6 years, 10 months agoI am user:Guy vandegrift on Wikipedia, Wikversity, and Commons. I also teach six semester-long college courses in Physics and Astronomy, and am attempting to incoporate wikitext in all my efforts.
Here are my four best projects:
- The Chapter Summary equations have been slightly modified and placed at https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/OpenStax_College_Physics/Equations_(master) This document uses transclusions that should permit a person with modest wikitext skills to modify and compress this into a few pages of formulas for use while taking exams. To understand how this modification works, visit my own Lake Campus version. For the benefit of viewers, I have used green colored text on most of my added formulas at https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Wright_State_University_Lake_Campus/University_Physics_Volume_1/Equations
- I believe that an exam bank should be written with this formula sheet in mind, and for that reason will postpone further development of my open questonbank (808 questions for all six courses). This bank still needs a lot of work, but can be found at https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Quizbank/Entire_bank
- One way to improve the bank would be to assign the writing of new questions to the students. They need to write in wikitext, but in an environment where they cannot copy each other's efforts. My wikifarm for these purposes is at https://wright.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page
- Instructors also need a wiki to construct their own stash of "secret" questions that the students cannot see before the test. The wiki I plan to use for these purposes would also permit collaboration between those scholars who wish to publish research papers under a Creative Commons license. Currently a draft of a paper on Bell's theorem can be found at https://wikiversity.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page
Sorry the links don't work. Try these:
- https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/OpenStax_University_Physics_Volume_1/Equations_(master)
- https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Wright_State_University_Lake_Campus/University_Physics_Volume_1/Equations
- https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Quizbank/Entire_bank
- https://wright.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page
- https://wikiversity.miraheze.org/wiki/Main_Page
I fixed a bad link in the five "bullets" at the bottom: One of the links went to a College Physics sheet that is still under construction. It works now, I think--Guy
Another way to link to the wikis is to post the slides.
I feel uncomfortable posting more than this first slide, since it seems OpenStax only made them available to instructors (I would never post exam or test questions in such a way regardless of how it was licensed by copyright law.).
But if it is OK with OpenStax, we could use Miraheze to have students privately write "lectures" based on these slides, and then move the best to a place like Wikipedia, under Creative Commons license. Given the complexity of opening a a MS PowerPoint presentation, simply opening and clicking through the Wikiversity file seems much more convenient for students and lecturers.
I have begun work on summary equations for Volume 2. See
I can't begin to construct an exam bank until we have a collection of equations for students to use as they take the exams. I am not committed to using my python/wiktext software to construct this bank; but it is the only suitable software that I know of.
Also: I will be retiring soon and wish to work full-time on developing ancillary material for OpenStax physics and astronomy books. I won't know how much income I will require until I consult a financial advisor. If my preliminary estimates are correct, I won't need much more than minimum wage compensation. Please let me know if you know of an available grant or job opening.