Please see the online homework poll to the right. Please feel free to comment here and suggest other questions and perspectives about the homework issue or anything related to that.
There are advantages and disadvantages to the online homework system when compared to paper homework. As the poll suggests it is convenient and students can submit homework at any time (or even late with out too much penalty in most cases). This is probably the most convenient for students who don't always attend lecture. It also gives immediate feedback which is a plus. Personally my favorite aspect of the homework are the multi-step tutorials/derivations/etc. It promotes an active way to learn and better understand the material.
The homework system isn't without its "cons" however. I leave cons in quotations since some might actually see these cons as bonuses. Firstly, the homework is fast. It can encourage you to plug and chug with a calculator since this is a faster way to complete the homework then writing out problems on paper (lets face it who wants to spend extra time on homework?). Secondly, the feedback is very limited. I feel that a human grader could leave much better feedback. These blogs help with that but still feel obsolete in comparison to paper grading. And don't forget we have to shell out cash for this homework system.
The only con of this online homework thing, in my opinion, is the cost. I wonder if some sort of open-source online homework program exists? If professors could adopt a freeware auto-feedback online homework system that would be great. If such a thing doesn't exist, why not have the CS and IT grad students program it, couldn't be too hard. I'll bet even a stupid undergraduate like me could cook up something like this in less than a year.
My problem with the Mastering Physics site is the extremely limited nature of the feedback. It's very frustrating to me to simply be told that my answer is wrong with no indication of why it's wrong. I think it would be more helpful to be able to input our steps so the program could let us know where we've gone wrong.
There are advantages and disadvantages to the online homework system when compared to paper homework. As the poll suggests it is convenient and students can submit homework at any time (or even late with out too much penalty in most cases). This is probably the most convenient for students who don't always attend lecture. It also gives immediate feedback which is a plus. Personally my favorite aspect of the homework are the multi-step tutorials/derivations/etc. It promotes an active way to learn and better understand the material.
ReplyDeleteThe homework system isn't without its "cons" however. I leave cons in quotations since some might actually see these cons as bonuses. Firstly, the homework is fast. It can encourage you to plug and chug with a calculator since this is a faster way to complete the homework then writing out problems on paper (lets face it who wants to spend extra time on homework?). Secondly, the feedback is very limited. I feel that a human grader could leave much better feedback. These blogs help with that but still feel obsolete in comparison to paper grading. And don't forget we have to shell out cash for this homework system.
The only con of this online homework thing, in my opinion, is the cost. I wonder if some sort of open-source online homework program exists? If professors could adopt a freeware auto-feedback online homework system that would be great. If such a thing doesn't exist, why not have the CS and IT grad students program it, couldn't be too hard. I'll bet even a stupid undergraduate like me could cook up something like this in less than a year.
ReplyDeleteMy problem with the Mastering Physics site is the extremely limited nature of the feedback. It's very frustrating to me to simply be told that my answer is wrong with no indication of why it's wrong. I think it would be more helpful to be able to input our steps so the program could let us know where we've gone wrong.
ReplyDelete