Richard Kuntz Monmouth University
West Long Branch, NJ 07764
(732) 571-3408(kuntz@monmouth.edu)

Abstract:

At the June 2000 ASCUE Conference, the author discussed and demonstrated a web-based testing system that was developed to support Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) in developmental mathematics courses. The system was used in an experimental section of Math050 - Pre Algebra Mathematics during the Fall 2000 term at Monmouth University. This paper will briefly discuss the results of that experience. However, the main focus of the paper will be on providing instructions on installing and administering the system. A demonstration on the setup procedures will be conducted. At the conclusion of the presentation, appropriate functional software will be distributed to interested parties (at no charge).

Instructional Setting:

Monmouth University is a private, comprehensive, teaching university enrolling approximately 4500 students of which 3200 are full-time undergraduate students. The University is located in the central shore area of New Jersey - about 55 miles south of New York City.

The Mathematics Department has eleven full-time faculty members. The Mathematics Majors program at the University enrolls over 60 full-time equivalent students; a significant number of those students are dual-majors - mathematics and education. As with most institutions of today, a substantial part of the teaching responsibility of the Mathematics Department is directed toward instruction for non-majors with many in the non-science disciplines. The largest single group serviced by the Department consists of those students majoring in programs within the School of Business Administration.

Like many (most) higher educations institutions of today, the University boasts of a wired campus. At Monmouth, this includes connections to all campus buildings and to each room in the residence halls. At the present time, the University is completing a plan to wire all classrooms with video and data and to install computer-supported video display units that are connected to the campus network. There are currently 27 computer laboratory/classrooms and 25 classrooms with permanently installed video display units.

Brief Description of MUTester

As reported in both [4] and [5], the author developed a comprehensive web-based system to provide students with a baseline of problems that can be used as individual practice problems or as a basis for testing. Students are able to access the problem sets from any web-connected station, whether it is on campus or off campus. By working through the problems, students are able to evaluate their own readiness for tests and quizzes. The original system was expanded to include a testing component. The complete system, including the practice component and the testing component, is called MUTester.

An on-line demonstration of the testing component was presented at the June 2000 ASCUE Conference. At the time, the author indicated that plans were in place to use the system to support an experimental section of Math050, a remedial course in College Algebra, during the Fall 2000 term. That section was offered in the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) mode of instruction. A full report of that experience is contained in [5].

As reported in [4], the basic design goals of MUTester were:

1. Provide for web accessibility through Internet Explorer or Netscape 4.0 or higher browsers.
2. Support dynamic additions and deletions to the test set database.
3. Support a variety of modes at the problem presentation level.
4. Provide access to individual student progress records.
5. Support dynamic test creation from a problem set that can be assigned to a given student or to an entire class.
6. Provide an authorization mechanism for test administration.
7. Support faculty level administration.

Brief Summary of Student Progress and Outcomes -- Fall 2000:

Twenty-three students, mostly first time freshman, enrolled in the course. After elaborating on the goals and the format of the course, all but one student elected to remain in the course section. Of the twenty-two students who remained in the course, eighteen successfully completed the course by passing all the unit quizzes. Of the four students who did not complete the course, three were first time freshman and one was a continuing freshman.

Three students in the class completed all 12 units by the end of the seventh week of class. The following table lists the number of students completing the units by week. Eleven of the students completed the units during the final week of class.

Course Completion by Week
Week               7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Completing       3        1    1   1   1  11

Of the four students who did not complete the course, one did not successfully complete any of the unit tests, two completed nine of the twelve, and one completed ten of the twelve.

Sixteen (16) of the eighteen (18) who completed the course filled out a student evaluation report. All sixteen (16) students indicated that they had a successful experience in the course section and fourteen (14) indicated they would recommend the format and experience to others. Nine (9) of the sixteen (16) students indicated that they felt they were properly placed in a remedial math course. The others provided a variety of reasons why they were not properly placed in the course.

Description of the System:

The MUTester system consists of two database files and a directory structure on a web server that contains the html forms and ancillary files. One database, the problem set database, organizes and controls access to the various problem sets while the other one, the testing database, controls the testing process and maintains student records. The system runs under IIS 5.0 and uses "Active Server Page" (ASP) technology to access the databases and files and to format the pages for presentation to the browser.

Since the June 2000 demonstration, the system has been completely redesigned. The system now "seamlessly" supports access to both Access tables and SQL2000 tables. The upgrade was a result of the successful pilot project wherein 22 students were supported in the Fall 2000 pilot project. The average number of students using the testing component at any give time was about 5. That number was well within the capability of Access. With plans to move toward supporting 60 to 70 students, it was recognized that the Desktop database, Access, was not the appropriate platform to support the project. Consequently, the system was redesigned to support both Access and SQL2000 database files -- in any combination.

Unless specified otherwise, the system assumes the default settings of Access as the database server, Problemset.mdb as the problem database and MUTester.mdb as the testing database. As described in more detail below, alternate servers and databases are set using the option
"server=yourservername:yourdatabasename."

System Component Descriptions:

Except for any of the databases that are located in a SQL2000 server database, all files and directories are contained within a single directory structure with root name "MUTester." That directory structure should be located on a web-server running IIS4.0 or higher. The system will function using one of the Microsoft Personal Web Servers, however that severly limits the number of connected users. The requisite directory structure is:
MUTester
/Administration
/DatabaseMaintenance
/Databases
/Images
/Include
/Practice
/Problems
/Testing

The Administration directory contains all the html files and code necessary to maintain the testing databases. The basic features supported by the items in this directory are:

1. Add a course section
2. Add students
3. View and add/delete to course roster
4. Exam Header Maintenance
5. Individual Student Exam Maintenance
6. Class Exam Maintenance
7. Progress Report by Class
8. Individual Student Progress Report

Access to these features is through the html form: "adminmenu.asp." The complete URL to maintain the default testing database would be:
"yourwebservername/MUTester/Administration/adminmenu.asp"

To maintain a different database it would take the form:
"yourwebservername/MUTester/Administration/
adminmenu.asp?server=yourservername:yourdatabasename".
Appendix A contains a screen shot of this menu.

The DatabaseMaintenance directory contains all the files and code necessary to maintain the problem set databases. The basic features supported by the items in this directory are:

1. Select a server and problem set database
2. Add, Edit and Delete information regarding a specific problem
3. Add, Edit and Delete information regarding problem classification
4. View existing classification information

Access to these features is through the html form: "dbmaintenance.asp." The complete URL for the form is:
"yourwebservername/MUTester/DataBaseMaintenance/dbmaintenance.asp"

The form presents dropdown boxes for selecting the various options. The Appendix B contains screen shot of this menu.

The Databases directory contains all the Access databases for the system. For the system to function in the Access default mode, this directory most contain the two databases: Problemset.mdb and MUTester.mdb. The installation set contains these two databases, a template database for each of these structures, and a sample database containing some sample data for each.

In addition to the web-based tools contained in the DatabaseMaintenance directory described above, these Access databases can be maintained directly using Access, provided there is network access to the web-directory containing the MUTester materials.

The Images directory is a repository for any images that may be used. It is not necessary that images files be placed in this directory. However, it is a location that can be easily identified. For example, this is an appropriate place to store the university logo that could be used as part of the page design. The next directory contains a generic header file that can be edited to individualize page headers.

The Include directory contains five critical files. These files are required for proper functioning of the system. They are:
1. Blank.htm
2. connect.inc
3. error.asp
4. includeheader.asp
5. MUTester.ini

The Blank.htm form is called by a variety of the programs to initialize parts of a frame-set page. Nothing has to be done to the file.

The error.asp file is used to report some run-time errors that occur during the execution of the system. Attempts have been made to build in some error traps. A typical error that is reported through this mechanism is an attempt to link to a nonexistent server or database.

The connect.inc file establishes connection to the various databases. It uses DNS-less connections. The file is included in all pages that require access to a database. It functions as a subroutine where it is passed server and database information in the form: servername:databasename. Here is where the default settings are set if a null-string is passed. This file does not require any editing.

The includeheader.asp file contains the information that is displayed on the top part of any page presented in frame-set format. This file can be edited to match individual site setting.

The last file in this directory, MUTester.ini is a text file that contains the server database information required for the dropdown boxes in the database management section. The file contains a description of the requisite format. It should be edited when servers and databases are to be used other than the default ones.

Problem set Database Description:

The database for a problem set contains three tables. A small table keeps a count of the number of times the initial screen is downloaded to a client browser. That count estimates the number of times users access the system. The second table contains information on the various problem classifications for that database application. It has a field that identifies the classification by name, a field for instructions for that type of problem, and a field for a sample problem. The sample problem is optional. It is a variable length field and can contain the complete text (including html format statements) or a link to external file that will present the sample file. The instructions field is of variable length and provides instructions to the user as to the goal of a specific set of problems.

The main table coordinates the necessary information for each problem. The table contains a link to the classification table that identifies the problem type. It contains a field for the problem, five fields for possible multiple choice answers, five fields for comments on each of the possible answers, and a field indicating which answer is the correct answer. The five comment fields are variable length text fields and can contain html formatting statements. The problem field and the five answer fields can contain text with html formatting statements (they are fixed length fields 75 characters), links to a gif file, or links to a external text file. These external text files can be any type of html document including embedded links to gif files or other files. The default is text. A link to a gif file is denoted by placing the "!" in the first position in the field followed by the relative URL for the gif file. A link to an external file is denoted by placing the "&" in the first position of the field followed by the relative URL for the text file. The relative URL for these files assume the root directory "MUTester/Problems." They can be placed in the Problems directory or any subdirectory thereof.

Requirements for Creating Additional Databases:

Template databases exist for the problem set database and the testing database. The default databases, problemset.mdb and mutester.mdb are part of the initial installation. The template databases can be used to set up additional applications. Just copy the template databases and rename them as desired. If the new database is a problem set database, then information must be added to the MUTester.ini file contained in the include directory.

Resources Required for On-going System Administration:

In general, the system does not require extensive system administration beyond the initial setup. Not counting the problem database maintenance and the test administration and reporting, there are few system administrative tasks. Basically, system administration consists of:

1. The initial set up of the system -- This requires creating the MUTester directory on a web server and placing the application files and subdirectories in that directory.

2. Setting appropriate security parameters on the web-server -- In general those security issues are: read/execute permissions to the standard iusr_servername internet user account to the MUTester directory and all subdirectories. In addition, the Databases subdirectory must grant full control to the iuser_servername account. That setting is required for an Access database to operate in a multiuser mode. Access creates and deletes lock files in a multiuser environment.

3. Upsizing to SQL2000 server -- If the application is going to use files in an SQL2000 database, the appropriate databases will have to be imported into SQL. Normally this procedure will require the assistance of a system administrator. With the administrative tools described above, the requisite assistance will be only in upsizing to SQL, not with any maintenance issues.

4. Adding gif and text files to Problem directory -- The text and gif files that support the problems reside in the Problem directory. Normally, they are organized according to problem classification. These supporting files must be stored in the Problem directory on the web-server. Some procedures will have to be developed with the web-server administrator for the addition and deletion of items in the Problem directory. With the existence of local area network, this could be accomplished by a share name being assigned to the directory and a drive map set up on the computer of the user responsible for maintaining the problem set databases.

Future:

Currently work in underway to develop a mechanism to support free formatted answers. That is, support for other than basic multiple choice questions.

In addition, thought will be given to the transition to some of the emerging technologies that will support the presentation of mathematical content on the web. It has been slow in coming, but maybe in the near future, we will have a broader support base for MathML. One that will support the development of content as well as one that will support browser rendering with a minimum of user effort.

Requisite Skills:

Other than the administrative tasks described above, the only technical skills needed to develop material for the system is the ability to create text files with some simple text editor (as simple as notepad) for the word problems; and the ability to create the gif files for complex mathematical expressions that cannot be placed directly in text or html code. MathType or the simple equation editor in Word would be adequate to produce simple mathematical expressions. The other part of the process is to complete the appropriate web-form.

Reference:

1. Fred S. Keller, Goodbye Teacher, Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1968, 79-89.

2. James Kulik, Chen-Lin Kulik, and Kevin Carmichael, The Keller Plan in Science Teaching, Center for Research on Learning in Teaching, University of Michigan.

3. Richard Kuntz, A Web-Based System to Support Practice Problems in the Classroom, 12th International Conference. on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics (ICTCM), 1999

4. _____, A WEB-Based Testing System for Introductory Mathematics Courses, 33nd Annual Conference Association of Small Computer Users in Education (ASCUE), 2000.

5. _____,Using a Web-Based Testing System to Support PSI in Remedial Mathematics, Joint Mathematics Meetings, 2001

Attachments:

Screen 1 -- Testing DataBase Management Menu

Screen 2 -- Problem set DataBase Management Menu

Screen 3 -- IncludeHeader.asp

<TABLE BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0>

<col align="left" width="90" valign="top">
<col align="left" width="200">
<col align="left" width="50">
<col align="left" >
<tr>
<td>
<img src="..\images\yourlogohere.gif" align="left" border=0 alt="">
</td>
<td>
<span style="font-size:16pt; font-weight:bold">
Your Institution Name Here</span>
<br>
<span style="font-size:12pt; font-weight:bold;">
More on you name if needed
</span>
</td>
<td></td>
<td>

<%=Session("Header") %>

</td>
<td>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</pre>