@jessica_m_riege
I'm not sure what you're after when you say that WebAssign only has a lockdown browser. What was it that you were looking for it to have that Canvas has but WebAssign doesn't?
The bigger picture is that Canvas doesn't have support for understanding mathematics like WebAssign does.
You won't be able to automatically grade any kind of problem that requires mathematical input from users if you use Canvas.
- You can use essay questions and make them enter their own content using the equation editor. I did this with college algebra homework a couple of years ago. It's a terrible idea to spring upon them with a test if they haven't practiced it beforehand.
- You can create multiple choice questions and then Canvas will automatically grade them.
- You can use formula questions, but they are restricted to numeric decimal values.
You really need a program dedicated to mathematics (a partial and unordered list includes: WebAssign, MyMathLab, WebWorks, MyOpenMath, Edfinity, etc.) to effectively grade math content.
In the end, the coronavirus thing is making all of us do things a little differently and we may have to change what we do.
I've decided to still issue paper and pencil tests to my classes. WebAssign has allowed free access and 4 of my 7 differential equations students have used it in calculus, but the other 3 have not and I didn't want to switch over to online.
I'm making several versions of a PDF exam available as a question group inside a Canvas quiz. Once the students start the quiz in Canvas, they will get a link with a PDF. They can print it if they have a printer or write their answers on paper if they do not. It's timed and at the end of the time, they scan their work with Adobe Scan and upload it into Canvas.
I toyed with the idea of having a quiz question that was a file upload so it was all there in one spot, but it had some severe drawbacks for me. I had to do download the submissions, individually, open them with Acrobat Reader (I've got the full version), mark them up, save them, and then attach them as a submission comment to the students. They would need to have Acrobat Reader (or another reader that supports comments) to read the comments I left.
Instead, I opted for creating a separate assignment where they could submit the actual exam as a PDF. Then I get to use DocViewer to mark on the exam directly and they students don't need any special tools to read it. I also created a rubric with a criterion for each question that has the number of points that question is worth. I grade mine on a uniform scale using awesome, good, okay, fair, poor, none and so I can mark up the points and let Canvas total it. The students get to see how they did on each question, even if I don't write something on their exam with DocViewer. Then, I use a tool that I'm writing that downloads the rubric results so I have a record of how each student did.
Grading on paper is a lot faster, but this approach (I just used Monday night) was pretty good for electronic submissions.
I know that they are going to cheat. Well, I guess it depends on what you call cheating. I know if you let students be at home (which we must) in front of a computer (which we must) that has internet access (which it must), that you cannot expect them to not use resources available to them. I'm not going to use some proctoring software because there are typically ways around that as well and it puts some of our students at a disadvantage. They may not have had a webcam available and they can't go get one now and we don't want to throw that cost on them.
I'm going to put in an honor statement basically saying it's okay to use non-human resources and then make the questions the kind that students won't be able to do in the time allowed if they don't already know what they're doing. Yeah, they may pull up Maxima to do some simplification, but I do that in class as well - I don't want to spend 50 minutes doing algebra on a power series solution when we're already spending 20 minutes doing the differential equations portion. If I'm assessing (in differential equations) something that requires partial fractions or integration by parts, am I really concerned that they can do that by memory or do I want to focus on the content of the course we're on?
Now, if they were face to face with me -- yes, I would monitor the situation while they take the exam and make sure that they're not using any other tools. But these are extraordinary times and I have to realize I have to change what I'm doing because the old way just won't work anymore.
I shared your question with the Teaching Math in Canvas group to see if someone there has additional thoughts.
| 4 - 5 | = 1, -1, 20, -20, or 9
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