Michael,
One of the major changes in the amount of work that my students
actually perform was the introduction of WebAssign. Before that, I
collected homework and graded it (way too much time), or sample-graded
the collected homework, or had an in-class quiz on one problem from the
set. None of the methods were terribly effective.
With the implementation of WebAssign including a secure forum
where students can discuss homework assignments, the amount of
out-of-class work has increased markedly. I attribute this to a couple
of factors. The first and most important is immediate feedback. The
students can work on their assignments at 1:30 AM and get
near-instantaneous marking of the assignment. I allow multiple
submissions so the student can try again. With immediate grading, they
still have their thought processes in hand and can attack the problem
more readily. The forum means that they can get suggestions from their
classmates. The problems are randomized so specific numerical solutions
are not useful. For those motivated by only grades, the WebAssign
grading of red X, green check is compelling. (And homework is only 10%
of my grade).
The other factor is that I make it the policy of the class to
discuss specific solutions when the problems are attacked prior to the
due date. The students show me what they have done and I make specific
suggestions about strategies and methods. This rewards students who are
working ahead on the material. I have had students actually come in for
help for assignments that were not due for ten days (but would be due
when they were out of town for a field trip). Anecdotal evidence is not
compelling, I know, but I haven't ever had that happen before in my
Physics classes. I still have students who scrape by on the minimal
amount of effort but overall the work outside of class has increased.
I am not shilling for WebAssign as there are multiple ways to
accomplish the same thing. Texas has a homework server system that may
be appropriate: https://hw.utexas.edu/bur/overview.html
And Steve Whisnant of James Madison University has clued me into
LON-CAPA: http://www.lon-capa.org/. More or less free software, but
your department has to mount the server and run the homework service.
THO
Thomas O'Neill
Physics
Shenandoah Valley Governor's School