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Summary: Open Community Authoring of Targeted
Worked Example Problems
Turadg Aleahmad, Vincent Aleven, and Robert Kraut
Human Computer Interaction Institute
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh PA 15213, USA
{turadg,aleven,robert.kraut}@cmu.edu
Abstract. Open collaborative authoring systems such as Wikipedia are
growing in use and impact. How well does this model work for the devel-
opment of educational resources? In particular, can volunteers contribute
materials of sufficient quality? Could they create resources that meet stu-
dents' specific learning needs and engage their personal characteristics?
Our experiment explored these questions using a novel web-based tool
for authoring worked examples. Participants were professional teachers
(math and non-math) and amateurs. Participants were randomly as-
signed to the basic tool, or to an enhanced version that prompted authors
to create materials for a specific (fictitious) student. We find that while
there are differences by teaching status, all three groups make contribu-
tions of worth and that targeting a specific student leads contributors to
author materials with greater potential to engage students. The exper-
iment suggests that community authoring of educational resources is a
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