If there is one thing that most math and science majors dread every year, it is using WebAssign. For those not taking any math and science courses, WebAssign is a program many professors use to assign homework. Many students dread using this program due to how user-unfriendly it is.
There have been many times where I had the right answer to a math problem, but WebAssign kept on insisting I was wrong because I didn’t type it in the right format. To add insult to injury, the problem didn’t tell me how to type in the answer. So, no matter how many times I retyped the answer, I would get it wrong.
Since many students are paying just over $20 per class to use this program, I think WebAssign should offer a couple of improvements to its services. By doing so, students will have an easier time using its program and are more likely to succeed in their classes.
One way WebAssign can improve its services is to allow its users to add special characters like insert fractions, infinity signs or other symbols. This may seem like a simple addition, but it will make the program a lot more user-friendly.
In our math, chemistry and physics courses, students will often get complex solutions to their problems. By allowing students to use these special symbols, they will have a much easier time typing their answers to the problems, rather than having to use 10 layers of parentheses. This can reduce the mass confusion and frustration typing in answers to WebAssign, allowing students to receive full marks on their homework assignments, leading to less stress and higher grades.
Another way WebAssign can improve their services is by offering feedback when a student gets a problem wrong. There are countless times where a student has to constantly redo a problem because they continue getting it wrong. No matter how many times you consult your notes, watch a Khan Academy video or ask your professor, if you can’t figure out how to do the problem, you’re not able to learn anything from it.
What WebAssign can do is offer feedback to a problem, to let students know what they potentially did wrong. This can allow students to learn from their mistakes and help them do better on the next series of questions. If professors are worried that students would abuse this system, then WebAssign should offer a new, randomly-generated problem. By offering feedback on their problems, students can learn from mistakes and be more academically successful in their classes.
As previously stated, WebAssign is relatively expensive as a prerequisite for completing required homework. According to CBS, the College Board estimated that the average college student spends around $1,200 on textbooks alone. Students should not have to pay more money just to do homework on top of paying for textbooks. Although the company is unlikely to lower its prices considerably, NC State could do more to support students who don’t have the money just lying around.
Although no homework system can be perfect, these changes would go a long way in making WebAssign more practical, useful and accessible to all students. While NC State no longer owns the software, it’s in the interest of students at NC State and all other colleges that use it for WebAssign to make these simple alterations.
