Flash Feedback for Second-Year Engineering (FF2E): Personalized Experiential Learning with Instant Feedback Through Shared WeBWorK Resources

TitleFlash Feedback for Second-Year Engineering (FF2E): Personalized Experiential Learning with Instant Feedback Through Shared WeBWorK Resources
Faculty/College/UnitApplied Science
StatusCompleted
Duration2 Year
Initiation04/01/2018
Completion05/31/2020
Project Summary

Effective practice in solving engineering problems requires timely feedback, allowing students to assess and improve understanding. Large classes (130-180) make timely feedback challenging when using paper-based assignments (weeks), and hours spent marking could otherwise increase instructor-student interaction. Online homework sites exist for engineering, but are typically costly for students.

Currently, there is no free, online homework source for most engineering subjects. Our project is to create resources that instructors and students at UBC can use to allow fast feedback with no marking or student cost, using the WeBWorK open-source online homework platform. The WeBWorK Open Problem Library (OPL), widely used in UBC Mathematics, contains 35,000+ math problems, but very few engineering problems.

We have identified 16 second-year engineering courses in five departments with overlaps in subject matter. We have been working to create and deploy 700+ WeBWorK problems in these courses to guide student practice, with subsequent posting to the OPL.

Funding Details
Year 1: Project YearYear 1
Year 1: Funding Year2018/2019
Year 1: Project TypeSmall TLEF
Year 1: Principal InvestigatorAgnes d'Entremont
Year 1: Funded Amount38,878
Year 1: Team Members

Agnes d'Entremont, Instructor / Mech 2 Coordinator, Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
Negar M. Harandi, Teaching and Learning Fellow, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
Jim Sibley, Director, Centre for Instructional Support, Faculty of Applied Science
Jonathan Verrett, Instructor, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
Patrick Walls, Instructor, Mathematics, Faculty of Science

Year 1: TLEF ShowcaseYear 1: TLEF Showcase
Year 2: Project YearYear 2
Year 2: Funding Year2019/2020
Year 2: Project TypeSmall TLEF
Year 2: Principal InvestigatorAgnes d'Entremont
Year 2: Funded Amount11,092
Year 2: Team Members

Agnes d'Entremont, Instructor / Mech 2 Coordinator, Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
Negar M. Harandi, Teaching and Learning Fellow, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science
Jim Sibley, Director, Centre for Instructional Support, Faculty of Applied Science
Jonathan Verrett, Instructor, Chemical and Biological Engineering, Faculty of Applied Science

Project Report2019-TLEF-Final-dEntremont-WEB.pdf