[LON-CAPA-users] drag math
Justin Gray
lon-capa-users@mail.lon-capa.org
Tue, 21 Oct 2008 14:21:01 -0700
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Indeed, this seems to be a bug in DragMath.
I have been using DragMath in several courses this semester and have not
encountered any other bugs so far. At least 90% of the problems that I am
using are formula response. I don't know exactly how many students are using
the equation editor, but I have noticed that there are far fewer complaints
from students about difficulties with entering the correct syntax for their
answers. (Most of these problems were used in previous semesters when
DragMath was not available.)
Having said that, because of the heavy emphasis on formula response problems
in my courses, I have taken some additional measures to help students with
entering the correct syntax for their answers:
1. I have prepared a one page document for students with important notes on
syntax.
2. I sometimes accept alternate answers. For example, I may code ln(x + y)
as an alternate answer for log(x + y).
3. I sometimes code formula hints when students make common syntax errors.
For example, if a student writes x - 1/x + 2 when the correct answer is (x
-1)/(x + 2) they may get a hint that says "You seem to be missing some
parentheses in your answer, which are needed in order to indicate the
correct order of operations." Using the equation editor to preview their
answers can help students to catch these mistakes in advance.
I try to avoid including information in the problem text that explains the
correct syntax that is needed, because it is difficult to do this without
giving away too much of the answer.
Justin
On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 11:56 AM, H.K. Ng <hkng@fsu.edu> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I am working on some formula/math response problems using the cas function
> but had a hard time getting drag math to work properly. Here are some of the
> issues.
>
> 1. On a new window, it doesn't seem to let me type in anything until I
> click on one of the icons. This seems rather backward.
>
> 2. It seems to rearrange an expression in a strange way. For example, if I
> type v^2+2g(a-b), it spits back (a-b)v^2+2.g. It does the same thing if I
> first enter the expression in the answer box and then click on the pencil
> icon.
>
> Has anyone has similar experience with drag math? Also, has anyone use drag
> math in a course? What is the feedback from the students like?
>
> Thanks,
> -hk
>
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>
--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Justin Gray
Dept. of Mathematics
Simon Fraser University
8888 University Drive
Burnaby, B.C. V5A 1S6
Canada
Tel. +1 778-782-4237
Fax. +1 778-782-4947
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Indeed, this seems to be a bug in DragMath. <br><br>I have been using DragMath in several courses this semester and have not encountered any other bugs so far. At least 90% of the problems that I am using are formula response. I don't know exactly how many students are using the equation editor, but I have noticed that there are far fewer complaints from students about difficulties with entering the correct syntax for their answers. (Most of these problems were used in previous semesters when DragMath was not available.) <br>
<br>Having said that, because of the heavy emphasis on formula response problems in my courses, I have taken some additional measures to help students with entering the correct syntax for their answers:<br><br>1. I have prepared a one page document for students with important notes on syntax. <br>
<br>2. I sometimes accept alternate answers. For example, I may code ln(x + y) as an alternate answer for log(x + y).<br><br>3. I sometimes code formula hints when students make common syntax errors. For example, if a student writes x - 1/x + 2 when the correct answer is (x -1)/(x + 2) they may get a hint that says "You seem to be missing some parentheses in your answer, which are needed in order to indicate the correct order of operations." Using the equation editor to preview their answers can help students to catch these mistakes in advance. <br>
<br>I try to avoid including information in the problem text that explains the correct syntax that is needed, because it is difficult to do this without giving away too much of the answer.<br><br>Justin<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">
On Tue, Oct 21, 2008 at 11:56 AM, H.K. Ng <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:hkng@fsu.edu">hkng@fsu.edu</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
Hi,<br>
<br>
I am working on some formula/math response problems using the cas function but had a hard time getting drag math to work properly. Here are some of the issues.<br>
<br>
1. On a new window, it doesn't seem to let me type in anything until I click on one of the icons. This seems rather backward.<br>
<br>
2. It seems to rearrange an expression in a strange way. For example, if I type v^2+2g(a-b), it spits back (a-b)v^2+2.g. It does the same thing if I first enter the expression in the answer box and then click on the pencil icon.<br>
<br>
Has anyone has similar experience with drag math? Also, has anyone use drag math in a course? What is the feedback from the students like?<br>
<br>
Thanks,<br>
-hk<br>
<br>
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</blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br>Justin Gray <br>Dept. of Mathematics <br>
Simon Fraser University<br>8888 University Drive<br>Burnaby, B.C. V5A 1S6<br>Canada<br>Tel. +1 778-782-4237<br>Fax. +1 778-782-4947<br>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~<br><br><br><br><br><br>
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