What Is LON-CAPA?
LON-CAPA is a course management system specifically designed for science and mathematics. It includes tools for assessment based on randomized exercises. You can learn more about LON-CAPA at www.lon-capa.org.
LON-CAPA in Pitt Calculus Courses?
Overview
A set of LON-CAPA exercises has been prepared for Calculus 1, Calculus 2, and Calculus 3. Each exercise consists of a problem template, from which specific exercises will be algorithmically generated for each student. No two students will get identical problems. The student will get a specified number of attempts to solve each problem correctly. Problems will be solved using traditional tools, including pencil/paper, calculators, or other computer programs. LON-CAPA does not have a built-in calculator. However, most answers do not need to be simplified or calculated to decimal values. For example, the answer
can be input as 72.68560906 or as pi(7^3/3+(7/2)^2-14exp(2)).
The exercises for each course are divided into modules, each of which must be completed by a specified due date which is set by the course instructor. Students can work on their LON-CAPA assignments from any computer with Internet access,
The LON-CAPA system will automatically grade each student's work, and keep records of the grades. Calculus 1 and Calculus 2 students will meet once per week in the Calculus Lab to work on these exercises individually. It is expected that students will complete most of their LON-CAPA work in the lab, where expert help will be available from their recitation instructors.
Instructor Responsibilities
Setting due dates
Due dates must be set for each LON-CAPA module. This should be done by course lecturers or recitation instructors in consultation with the lecturers. Due dates should be set to keep LON-CAPA work in sync with the lectures.
Working with students in the lab
All recitation sections for a given lecture will meet together in the lab for LON-CAPA work. All recitation instructors are expected to be present and available to assist students with the use of the LON-CAPA system and with mathematical questions. Instructors are not expected to solve problems for the students, but they should answer questions and give hints as needed. You should be on your feet and circulating during your lab sessions.
Server Administration
Coordinating a Course with LON-CAPA
Your course is set up for you consisting of folders of calculus problems that the system will grade upon student submission and will offer a spreadsheet of scores in various formats. You will be given instructor privileges and responsibilities of certain coordinating factors, primarily making sure that the due dates for each folder are assigned to coincide with the material covered in the syllabus. Also there are special features to the system that allow for exceptional situations that may occur for an entire class or for individual students. Below is a basic guideline to using LON-CAPA.
Students and instructors can access LON-CAPA from any computer with Internet access via the URL:
https://homework3.phyast.pitt.edu
This is the Access server for Pitt's LON-CAPA domain. If there is a problem connecting to the Access server then you can log in to the Library server:
https://homework3.math.pitt.edu
When you login, you will automatically be linked with the courses you are enrolled in and a role for this course. To view the material included in this course, go to Navigate Content. There is a syntax pdf that specifies standard inputting syntax.
Setting Math Display
One of the most important things to have your students do initially is to make sure that they are using the correct math display setting. This only has to be done once. From the toolbar, go to Main Menu. Under "My Space" select "Set my user preferences". Under "Content Display Settings", select "Math display settings". Using the pull down menu, choose jsMath and Save. If the jsMath option is not present due to browser restrictions then choose MathJax. If the default setting is not saved as jsMath or MathJax then the page is very difficult to read and at times does not make mathematical sense.
Setting Parameters
From the toolbar, go to Main Menu. Under Course Management, go to Modify Parameter Settings and then Set/Modify Resource Parameters-Table Mode. You can change any or all of the parameters within a folder by checking the appropriate boxes listed. To choose all folders at once or to choose an individual folder, use the pull down bar Select Enclosing Map of Folder.
- To set the date and time that a folder is to be completed, check the Problem Due Date box. Students will not be able to submit an answer after the given date and time has expired without you changing the parameter. To change parameters for an individual problem within a folder, choose resource level within Select Parameter Level and select all parts under Select Parts to View.
- To display the answers after the due date, check the Problem Answer Date.
- To temporarily hide material in folders, check the Problem Opening Date.
- To change the default number of tries, check the Maximum Number of Tries.
After checking the box for the desired action, click the button Update
Parameter Display and register the parameter settings.
If you wish to change any of these parameters for an individual student, type in the username of the student in the box For User before checking the button Update Parameter Display. Only this student"s settings will be changed. The weight in points per question per problem has been predetermined when the courses were designed.
Spreadsheet of Grades
From the Main Menu selections, within Grading and Statistics, are a number of optional formats for grades.
- Final Grades: Best results are given from "View the course assessment progress chart" with the selection "fullname", "currently has access", "Excel", "Scores Summary".
- To check on class progress during the course, instead of having to download an Excel Spreadsheet, you can have the progress shown on your screen by changing the format of Excel to HTML, without links.
- You can also check on an individual student by choosing "Select One Student" and then choosing that individual student from the given roster.
Adding/Dropping a single student or instructor
The rosters are updated overnight throughout the Add/Drop period. However, there may be times in the lab when a student too recently has added the course that you will have to use this option. From Main Menu, under User Management, go to Manage course users.
- Adding a Single User: Select "Add/Modify a Single Course User". Type in the Pitt username of the student and select "Create/Modify user".
- Once a student enrolls in a different section, any previous work completed will not follow along with the section change. When students are "dropped", they no longer have access to the formerly enrolled section. You can retrieve your dropped student"s information or ask the previous instructor to access work completed by highlighting "Any Access Status in the output of Grades.
Further information
Further information can be found in the LON-CAPA Course Management manual