(375k) Homework Problem Repository and Delivery System for Quantitative Problems

Student engagement with course material is key for student comprehension. One traditional method for promoting this engagement has been homework assignments. This system, however, has been degraded over the last few years due to the availability of homework solutions. A freely available, easy to use, crowd sourced, homework problem repository available at QRproblems.org/login has been developed to help address this degradation.

The repository has many features meant to make it attractive as a resource for fellow instructors. The repository can be sorted on course, concept, author, difficulty, computational method or contributor. Each problem that has been previously circulated shows the students rating of the problem in terms of effectiveness and difficulty. Currently there are hundreds of problems, in the repository with more added each semester. Some problems are based on examples from text books or online resources, while others are original. A problem must be activated by an instructor for students to access it. Only students that enter their PIN, instructor ID and problem number can access an active problem. This should reduce the exposure of the repository to the general public and make it somewhat more difficult for problems solutions to be generally available. Another feature of the repository is the ability of instructors to clone a problem. If an instructor likes a problem but wants to make modifications, the problem can be cloned and resubmitted as a cloned problem to the repository.

All problems have variable parameters so that each student gets a different version of the problem. Students get immediate feedback on their numerical responses either on their phones or computer. Students are also provided the answers but not solution to a common base-case version of the problem. Instructors can then insist that students attempt to work through the common base-case problem before asking for help. Many of the problems have additional enhancements such as video clips, simulations or solution hints in the form of multiple-choice questions. Problems also have written reflection questions that the instructor can assign that supports higher level thinking and attempts to connect the concepts in the problem to reality. In addition, planning or estimation preliminary problems can be assigned some time before the numerical problem is due. Completion of the preliminary problems is automatically logged by the system. This feature was included to encourage students that have not developed time management skills to read and understand the problem statements several days before the problem is due.

How fellow instructors can use and contribute to the repository will be demonstrated.