Lessons learned using Lumen: the good and bad of online homework systems
Presenters: Mark Mattson, SUNY Polytechnic Institute and Jeffrey Birt, Mohawk Valley Community College
This presentation identifies lessons learned after having developed and used a new online homework system for engineering courses in Lumen OHM. The session discusses general pros and cons of online homework systems with a particular emphasis on engineering education where problem solutions are often multi-step and require hand drawn diagrams. Benefits of online systems including instant feedback for numeric answers, question randomization and scaffolded approaches for multi-step problems will be presented. Disadvantages such as students not performing proper documentation, the inability to check the solution process, and the lack of individualized feedback will be discussed. A hybrid system is presented as a middle-ground to optimize student engagement and learning with both instantaneous feedback and individualized feedback based on work submitted. As a bonus, a grading rubric is provided for evaluation of hand calculations.