WeBWorK is an online math homework system. It is possible to connect Moodle to WeBWorK so that students automatically create their WeBWorK accounts by clicking on a link from within Moodle. In addition, WeBWorK can send grade information back to Moodle if desired.
There are two main ways to set up the connection between Moodle and WeBWorK. If you aren't interested in having WeBWorK send grades to Moodle or you only need the overall WeBWorK grade reported back to Moodle, it is easiest to set up a single link between the two systems. If you need to have the individual grades for WeBWorK
Setting your WeBWorK course
- Ask a colleague who is a WeBWorK administrator or submit a Help Desk ticket (help@swarthmore.edu) to set you up with a WeBWorK course. Provide the name and number of the course you want to configure.
- Log into your course at https://webwork.swarthmore.edu. You will use your Swarthmore username and password to log in.
For security reasons, Professors and TA's must log into WeBWorK directly and cannot enter via a Moodle link. If you are enrolling students via Moodle, they will be able to enter the course from a link within Moodle.
Setting up a single link between Moodle and WeBWorK
- Set up your WeBWorK course
- Go to your Moodle course, turn editing on, and add an "External Tool" activity
- Give the link a name
- Show all the configuration details
- Under "Secure URL" copy and paste the URL for your WeBWorK course. The format should be https://webwork.swarthmore.edu/webwork2/<CourseName> (where
<CourseName>will be your actual course name) - Save your settings
You should now have a link to WeBWorK in your Moodle course. Students will be able to click on the link to access WeBWorK.
Setting up individual homework links between Moodle and WeBWorK
- Set up your WeBWorK course
- Go to your Moodle course, turn editing on, and add an "External Tool" activity
- Give the link a name corresponding to the homework set
- Show all the configuration details
- Under "Secure URL" copy and paste the URL for your WeBWorK assignment. The format should be https://webwork.swarthmore.edu/webwork2/<CourseName>/<AssignmentName> (where
<CourseName>and<AssignmentName>are specific to your course and assignment) - Set the "Grade" parameters as you see fit.
- Save your settings
You should now have a link to a specific WeBWorK assignment in your Moodle course with a gradebook entry. Repeat for each assignment. Students will be able to click on each link to access a specific WeBWorK homework set.
WeBWorK only sends the percentage grade for each assignment back to Moodle and the two systems do not synchronize visibility, due dates, or point values. Most users let WeBWorK control the availability and timing of the homework sets and set the point value of the homework set to be 100. In addition, WeBWorK calculates the overall grade by adding up the number of points earner for all assignments divided by the overall number
More details
These blog posts from Geoff Goehle of Western Carolina University have some technical details at the beginning but instructor information towards the bottom of each post