Comment due Sunday, February 18
You may have noticed the Ask For Help button at the bottom of the screen when you are completing a WeBWorK problem:
Clicking this button takes you to a question-and-answer page on the OpenLab about this exact WeBWorK problem. For example, clicking the Ask For Help button on the page for the problem above takes you here.
You can seek help with this button in two ways:
- If you are logged into the OpenLab, you can submit a question asking for help with your WeBWorK problem. Be as specific and detailed as you can be about what you have tried and what you are confused about so that somebody (sometimes your instructor, but sometimes another faculty member or a tutor) has an idea about what you’re thinking so they can try to answer your question. You will earn one participation point every time you ask a substantive question on this Q-&-A site.
- You can read other students’ questions about their version of this WeBWorK problem and read the faculty/tutor’s answers to them. A lot of the time, if you have a question about a problem, a student has already asked that question and had it answered, so by scrolling to old questions and answers, you might be able to find the answer to your question without even having to ask it!
Instructions
For this week’s OpenLab assignment:
- Click the Ask For Help button on your own WeBWorK problems until you find a problem that at least one student has previously asked about on the Q-&-A site. You may choose any WeBWorK problem from a set that is due this week or was due in a previous week.
- Read all the questions and answers on the page to see if you understand what was being asked and if you understand the answers.
- As a comment on this post:
- Copy the link to the question page on the Q-&-A site.
- Include a short description of the WeBWorK problem. You don’t need to include too many details; for example, for the problem above, you could write something like, “The problem is asking students to determine the equation of a line, given its slope and a point on it.”
- Describe how students asked questions about the problem on the Q-&-A site. If many students are asking the same question in different ways, summarize their question.
- Do you think their questions were clear or could they have been more specific about how they asked them? How would you improve how they asked their questions in order to get the help they were looking for? How would you ask your own question about this problem?
- Did you understand the answers to the questions? Do you think those answers would help you in answering your version of the WeBWorK problem?
- Do you see yourself using the Ask For Help button for help with WeBWorK in the future? Why or why not?
You will earn one participation point for your comment.
By the way, you can see all the questions ever asked by MAT 1375 students about their WeBWorK problems on this page.
A. https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/ol-webwork/?post_data_key=webwork_post_data_2bd65cbc332a5d395d57b80d84251109#:problemId=CUNY/CityTech/CollegeAlgebra_Trig/setLinesReview/slope-formula-equation.pg
B. The WebWork problem is asking us to “Find an equation of the line passing through the points (-3,-2) and (-2,8).
C. The way students asked the question on the website were mostly about wondering where they went wrong and why they weren’t able to get the correct answer.
D. In my personal opinion, a lot of the questions could be clearer as most of them are simply asking where to start, what to do, or what they already did without providing insight to the thought process on how they got their answer in the first place. I’d improve by including the steps I took and not just the answer I received that way hopefully with the response provided I could determine whether there was an error in my math or the way I understood the question. As an example, the way I’d format the question would be “Where did I go wrong?” as the “my question” part and for the “what I’ve tried” I’d lay out all the steps I took in order to get to that point starting from rewriting the equation/points to actually working out the math.
E. I understood the answers from the questions and it did help me in solving my own problem.
F. I will certainly use the Ask For Help button in the future as it’s very efficient in providing assistance and the format makes it really easy to understand.
A- https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/ol-webwork/?post_data_key=webwork_post_data_9f075aee4fded6d4c20b55dc80ae6c8d#:problemId=CUNY/CityTech/Precalculus/setFunctions_-_Piecewise/two-piece-domain-range-disjoint.pg
B- The problem is asking us to find what f(x) is based on the graph provided on Webwork.
C- The people who asked questions about this problem seemed like they weren’t paying attention when the lesson was taught, or just simply wanted an answer so they could move on.
D- I think of one the people asking questions about that problem could’ve asked a better question instead of just asking “What is the range?”. They could’ve asked what are the steps for finding the range.
E- Yes I understood the questions they were asking, but their questions didn’t give me an answer to my question even though I understood the Webwork problems.
F- Yes I can see myself using this help feature since It’s really helpful, and it’s an actual person replying the same day you ask the question(s).
A-https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/ol-webwork/?post_data_key=webwork_post_data_1a6a690d2a9b6891269c023d20053363#:problemId=CUNY/CityTech/Precalculus/setTranslating_Functions/translate-circle-equation.pg
B. The Problem above is asking students to figure out an equation giving that there was a shift that occurred in the graph.
C. For the most part the students are asking the same questions which is basically where do i even start. They are not sure where to begin for this type of equation.
D. I think that they asked a reasonable question if they really do not know where to begin. But they could have narrowed in on some specifics about the equation. They could have said that “I am not sure where to begin, is there a specific equation i can use to set this problem up?”
E. I did understand the response to the question but i still would not know where to go from there and how to set the problem up because I’m more of a person who needs an in person explanatory answer to really understand something.
F. I would use the Ask For Help button if I couldn’t get a certain part of a problem. But i don’t see myself using it a lot because like i said in the previous question, I understand better when something is explained to me in person.
A- https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/ol-webwork/#:problemId=CUNY/CityTech/Precalculus/setDifference_Quotient/diff-quot-radical.pg:questionId=4580
B- This is a Difference Quotient Question
C- The student attached a screenshot to their question
D-The student could have been more specific in their question. I would suggest, identifying what part of the question is challenging so one can be guided from there rather than just being told the answer
E- I understood some of the answers, they definitely are a great assist to me
F- Yes, its a great method to receive assistance from peers