Online Self‐Reporting of Pencil‐and‐Paper Homework

Physics teachers are most effective when their students are active learners who think and participate in every class. This extends beyond the classroom too: ideally, students would tackle challenging questions and exercises after every class—not just before the exam or the night before the weekly homework is due.¹ Just‐in‐Time‐Teaching² was developed to encourage this by having students submit daily homework online; their answers can be quickly graded (by hand) and then used as a springboard for class discussions that day. More recently, online homework services have become available that can automate the grading process and provide instantaneous feedback to students. Unfortunately in both of these cases, the range of possible questions is limited to what can be easily answered via computer. But while pencil and paper is still an easier medium for expressing diagrams and equations, daily collection of paper homework is cumbersome and does not allow same‐day feedback. This paper describes a hybrid strategy in which students solve what may be “standard” pencil‐and‐paper homework problems, and then use a simple online form to self‐report their degree of success.