Halfway through the physics and astronomy department’s initial two-year contract to use WebAssign in Physics 104 and Physics 105 labs, some administrators and teaching assistants said they oppose its renewal.

Duane Deardorff, director of undergraduate physics labs at UNC, said in the fall 2011 semester, WebAssign deleted the lab exam responses for about 100 physics lab students. The exam scores were not counted in the students’ final grades.

“We do not want to commit to a longer contract,” Deardorff said. “We are in the process of reshaping the curriculum for Physics 104 and 105 labs.”

Deardorff determines the curriculum for physics lab classes and assigns teaching assistant positions. He said he recommended WebAssign to Arthur Champagne, chair of the physics and astronomy department.

Deardorff and Champagne said the two-year contract was signed before the software was tested in Physics 104 and Physics 105 labs at UNC.

John Corn, a former teaching assistant for Physics 104 and Physics 105 labs, said he and his colleagues were told by Deardorff that WebAssign would undergo a trial period, but received an email the following day that a two-year contract had already been signed.

“I don’t recall the rationale for signing the contract before the trial period, but we had a good experience with it in higher-level classes,” Champagne said.

Champagne said the software was the best option available at the time.

“Basically the discussion was that we would like to become more efficient in the way we grade big classes, especially with budget cuts,” Champagne said.

Deardorff said that if budget cuts had not affected the physics and astronomy department, he would not have supported using WebAssign.

“However, even with its faults, in the current budget situation I would much rather have WebAssign,” Deardorff said. “To recognize mistakes in real time has raised the level of understanding in many of our labs.”

Deardorff said that its instant grading feature made WebAssign the best option, but also harder to avoid problems.

Deardorff estimated that the software saves the department about $50,000 per year.

The department does not pay WebAssign for the right to use its software. Instead, WebAssign makes an estimated $20,000 per year on the $25 per semester student fee.

Several teaching assistants within the department said they oppose the continued use of WebAssign but wished to remain anonymous.

Corn said his impression of WebAssign was that it had too many problems.

“This software was a complete nightmare from day one,” Corn said. “If I search my inbox for WebAssign, I would have pages of complaints from former students.”

Corn said he offered to update for free an existing software program used by the department called WebLabs — which was free of charge to the department.

Corn taught labs that required WebAssign both 2011 summer sessions and said there were problems with the software.

“I would tell students to forget about WebAssign because many of them are pre-med students who have to make great GPAs,” Corn said.

Medical schools nationwide require applicants to have taken one year of physics, either Physics 104 and 105 or Physics 116 and 117.

Source:http://www.dailytarheel.com/index.php/article/2012/05/physics_software_renewal_unlikely