Online homework systems

  • Homework systems are online tools that can that can grade questions asked to students as homework, track formative practice, or assess examinations.
  • They are most useful in classes where students are problem solving (e.g., math and chemistry) and need immediate feedback about if they have done the process correctly. Systems are also commonly used to test recall. 
  • They are typically tied to or integrated with textbooks.
  • Faculty can sometimes customize questions.
  • Can be commercial, student-pay systems, or non-commercial (free) systems.

Commercial systems

Benefits

Faculty   Students
  • Question banks are ready to use, with multiple versions and types.
  • Integrates with textbooks and often with Canvas.
  
  • May include flashcards or other study resources with common terms.
  • Can be set up to give immediate feedback.

Issues

Faculty   Students
  • No faculty control of changes to homework system.
  • Variety of technical interface for instructors, may not be integrated in Canvas and gradebook (may require grade transcription).
  • Answer keys are often available online.
  • Student data often sits on a commercial server in the US. This has privacy implications, and it is not clear how long the data is stored in case of appeals.
  • Have to make a purchase in order to earn part of their grade, so some students are forced to forfeit that percentage of grade.
  • Increasing cost, limited time access, and no resale.
  • Technical difficulties are often encountered by students, and vendors have varying levels of effective customer service.

Privacy protections when using approved systems

The University of Saskatchewan has established formal terms of use agreements with software and textbook publishers (listed in current vendor agreements below) addressing required privacy, legal, security, and business requirements.  

The agreements ensure there is no misuse of data such as selling student data to third parties for data mining or analytics. 

Benefits of purchasing through Shop USask

Publishers often offer direct online access to their products and services. In these cases, students would login directly on the publisher’s website or in the publisher’s app. This can be problematic, and faculty and students who choose this mode of access must consider the following: 

  • The direct access method may not offer integration with other University systems and services (like Canvas gradebook).
  • The homework system may not comply with University privacy, security, and legal policy.
  • Support for the service is provided directly by the publishers to the instructor or student.
  • Students are being required to pay for additional services to have access to graded assignments and tests, then may have their data sold or used in ways that they prefer not to consent to. 

Current vendor agreements

When accessed through Canvas, the following online homework systems have agreements to comply with University privacy, security, and legal policy:

   Smartworks 5 (Norton/Nelson)

smartwork5
   Nelson (MindTap)

mind tap
   Cengage (Nelson)

mind tap
   Cengage WebAssign (Nelson)

mind tap
   Connect and Create (McGraw Hill)

mcgrawhill
   Mobius mobius logo
   Pearson (Revel) revel
   Pearson MyLab & Mastering pearson_mylab.jpg
   Wiley (WileyPlus)

wileyplus

 

Non-Commercial Vendors: None are currently enabled. These systems could be approved through the same process to obtain formal terms of use agreements with software.

Alternatives to commercial systems

You can explore using existing non-commercial tools. Several of these are used in other Canadian universities including University of British Columbia, University of Calgary, and McGill University.

You may also access funding through the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning to support your graduate students in building new question banks for integration into Canvas that could support automatic feedback and grading.

Contact GMCTL for more information about alternatives and potential funding. 

Get Help

Contact the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching & Learning (GMCTL) for more information about using homework systems safely, alternatives to commercial systems, and potential funding to adopt non-commercial systems.