Engaging Students in the Classroom with WeBWorK CLASS

Abstract

WeBWorK CLASS combines the best features of online homework and digital whiteboards to create a system that provides instructors with information on students’ problem-solving processes, as well as their final answer. The system’s utilization of tools that can sort students based on correct and incorrect homework and quiz answers and its ability to display students’ solutions to problems helps instructors make timely formative assessments of both in and out of classroom work. In this paper, we share how these tools allow us to engage students in the problem-solving process and provide meaningful formative assessment.

Keywords:

• Student engagement
• formative assessment
• collaborative learning
• technology
• WeBWorK

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to express gratitude to the Winona State University All University Technology Committee and the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Services department for providing iPad tablets to our students.

Notes

¹ The tools will also work with non-tablet devices (e.g., desktops, laptops, phones) but suffer from screen size issues or the limitations inherent in trying to write or draw with a mouse.

² Students can include parameters in their graphs. Adjusting the parameters using a slider automatically adjusts the graph. In addition, the graphing tool includes JSXGraph features to add tangent lines to a graph, plot the derivative of a function, or compute the Riemann Sum for the area beneath a plotted curve. All of this functionality is interactive and responsive to touch events on the graphing interface.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Nicole Engelke

Nicole Engelke received her Ph.D. from Arizona State University where she studied calculus students’ understanding of related rates problems. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mathematics at West Virginia University and is now exploring how gesture may be harnessed to facilitate learning in the undergraduate mathematics classroom.

Gulden Karakok

Gulden Karakok received her Ph.D. from Oregon State University. Her dissertation work was on transfer of learning of linear algebra topics from math courses to physics courses. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the School of Mathematical Sciences and extending her work on transfer of learning of individuals and groups in social settings. She is also investigating meaningful use of technology and its contribution to learning in various learning environments.

Aaron Wangberg

Aaron Wangberg received his Ph.D. at Oregon State University and is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Winona State University. He is interested in the ways technology can be used to enhance discussion and learning from peers in the classroom.