A Free Online Mathematics
Assessment and Course
Management System
IMathAS
David Lippman
Melonie Rasmussen
Lead Developer
Muse & #1 Fan
Pierce College
Lakewood, Washington
2009 AMATYC Conference
What is IMathAS / WAMAP?
IMathAS: Internet Math Assessment System
 Web-based math assessment engine
 Learning management system
 Algorithmically generated questions
 Computer grading of numerical and math expression
questions
 Accurate math and graph display
 Open-source software
WAMAP: Washington Math Assessment & Placement
 Thousands of existing questions from arithmetic through
calculus
 20+ pre-built courses
 Free IMathAS web hosting for Washington schools
A Brief History
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Started exploring placement alternatives
Got frustrated with publisher systems
Built something for myself, invited some others
to start playing with it
Got some state-level support to make a hosted
site available for free
Got some grant money for some content
development and system support time
An online community of users developed
WAMAP.org serves 3500+ students/ quarter
A Brief History
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$30,000 from Washington State eLearning
Council for content development
$80,000 from the Transition Math Project
(Gates foundation funded) for content
development and user training and
support
Mostly a labor of love
Benefits
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Immediate feedback
Unlimited practice
Automated grading
Encourage collaboration without cheating
Facilitate communication
Online grade tracking
Instructor Perception
Survey Results
Grades
Understanding
Improved
Similar
Declined
Retention
Confidence
Student Practice
0%
25%
50%
75%
100%
A Student Survey
(fully online class using WAMAP)
How’s it Different?
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The Advantages
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Truly free – no cost for students with used books
Not tied to a publisher – questions are categorized by
topic, not book section
Community created content
Community support
Flexibility of a learning management system
The Disadvantages
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We leave the teaching to humans - No tutorials,
videos, etc.
Pre-built courses are not yet developed for all texts
How It Can Be Used
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Drill and practice
Homework
Take-home, in-class tests/quizzes
Extended projects, group assignments
Active Learning activities
Encourage communication
Track student progress
Share info with students
Fully online courses
Diagnostics / Mass assessment
Want to try it out?
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Log in to www.wamap.org
To try it out as a student, log on with:
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Username & Password: demo
To get an tester instructor account, click
the Classroom tab, click on the “New
Instructor Account Request” and send in
your info. Your account will be set up in a
few days or less.
Read the Getting Started guide to get
familiar with the system, or watch some
videos in the training course.
Want to use it (long term)?
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We don’t currently have capacity to host
everyone at wamap.org (at least not yet).
Sorry.
Visit www.imathas.com to learn how to
download the software. It requires a web
host with PHP and MySQL.
For a single school, it can run fine on a
cheap $5/month hosting plan.