Re: [Phys-l] Online Homework Assignments and Grading

["LaMontagne, Bob" <RLAMONT@providence.edu>]

I did exactly the same for years - randomly grade a few of the homework problems. This past year, I found the number of correct responses rise dramatically. I found out this summer that the students are using an free online answer source called "Cramster". They basically just copy the solutions. It covers all the major textbooks.

www.cramster.com

I am now cobbling together problems from many old texts and handing them out each class. It's more work - but I'm retiring soon so I'll only be using this technique for a couple of years.

Bob at PC

________________________________________
From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu [phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu] On Behalf Of Jack Uretsky [jlu@hep.anl.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 12:54 AM
To: Forum for Physics Educators
Subject: Re: [Phys-l] Online Homework Assignments and Grading

Hi all-
        I save time for the instructor by grading only a fraction of the
assigned problems.  The students don't know in advance which problems will
be graded, so if the don't do all the homework, their grades suffer on a
probabilistic basis.
        By the way, I had a recent collaboration with a chemist who
introduced be to a delightful book by Chandler (there is also a solution
book to accompany the text).  For the past year I've been dealing with
non-equilibrium thermodynamics (look up Glauber's work to get some
insight).
                        Regards,
                                Jack


On Tue, 21 Jul 2009, Polvani, Donald G. wrote:

> I will be teaching introductory thermodynamics and electromagnetism at
> local community college after an absence of over 5 years.  The last time
> I taught the course I assigned end of the chapter homework problems,
> collected and graded the students answers, and returned the papers to
> the students.  Sometimes I would go over an especially troublesome
> problem on the board after finding that many students had a problem with
> it.  Homework counts for about 15% of the student's grade.
>
> In the fall, I am considering using an online homework assignment and
> grading program (Mastering Physics by Pearson/Addison Wesley which goes
> with the textbook "University Physics by Young and Freedman).  I have
> not used such a system before, but the instructor in the mechanics
> course, which precedes the course I will teach, has used Mastering
> Physics for homework and likes it.  She feels the students benefit from
> the extra tutorials and examples which are available as well as the
> hints and extra tries that are allowed by the grading systems.  The
> instructor benefits from the savings in grading time and the automatic
> compilation of grades which the system provides.
>
> I'm wondering what the experience of the list has been with systems like
> Mastering Physics in introductory physics courses.  This is a calculus
> based course intended for engineers and physicists.  Do you feel online
> homework assignment and grading systems are effective for the students
> in addition to saving time for the instructor?
>
> Don Polvani
> Northrop Grumman Corp.
> Undersea Systems
> Annapolis, MD 21404
> _______________________________________________
> Forum for Physics Educators
> Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
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--
"Trust me.  I have a lot of experience at this."
                General Custer's unremembered message to his men,
                just before leading them into the Little Big Horn Valley



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