Harrelson News–2000
WebAssign now used heavily in math teaching
WebAssign is the name of a tool in use at N.C. State University for electronic submission of assignments. Developed under the direction of Prof. John Risley of the NCSU Physics Dept., WebAssign began making its way into math courses in the spring of 1998. Presently WebAssign is heavily used in MA 105, MA 107, and MA 114, and use has begun in MA 121. Efforts are in progress to bring Webassign into MA 111 and the engineering calculus sequence.
WebAssign is designed to allow teachers to post homework assignments which students access and submit via the web. All grading and record keeping is automated, and students may even be given individualized versions of questions via the use of random number generation within the questions.
While WebAssign is flexible enough to allow use in many different ways, most faculty are allowing repeated submissions of assignments. In this way students answer the questions and submit their assignments for grading and get immediate feedback as to which answers are incorrect. They may then rework those exercises, change the answers, and resubmit. Used in this way WebAssign obviously can be a powerful learning tool, as well as a testing tool.
While WebAssign began in the physics department, the math department is on the verge of overtaking the physics department as the heaviest WebAssign user on campus. Presently around 2000 students are using WebAssign in math courses, but by fall of 2000 that number could well reach 4000.
In the summer of 1999 Marilyn McCollum and Jennifer George gave workshops on WebAssign to faculty in high schools and colleges throughout the state. They also gave presentations at various meetings nationwide. WebAssign is now being used at many schools and colleges nationwide.