OCNews

Stephen Brown, professor of Mathematics and Statistics at Okanagan College, recently received the BCcampus Award for Excellence in Open Education, announced by BCcampus on June 19, 2023.
 
Brown spearheaded the implementation of an open homework system that was first adopted for use in mathematics and statistics classes at Okanagan College. Now, the platform has spread to other departments at the College. 
 
MyOkanaganMath, a custom website created by Brown, debuted with Calculus I and II classes in summer 2022. Other departments have since either expressed interest or started using the site. Currently, over 500 students per year use the system at no cost to them, representing a commitment to open access on the part of the College. 
 
Brown presented MyOkanaganMath to the British Columbia Committee on the Undergraduate Program in Mathematics and Statistics (BCcupms) in May 2022 and shared an interest in collaborating with math departments at institutions around the province. He hopes other B.C. institutions will consider adopting the platform. 

“Open education projects like Stephen’s are important, as they take advantage of open-source software to deliver interactive learning content to students. Open-source software has no licensing fees, which translates to low- or-no cost applications for students to use. Through this project Stephen demonstrated genuine commitment to providing an engaging and equitable learning environment for all his students.”
— Clint Lalonde, director of Open Education, BCcampus 

“I have had the pleasure of working alongside Stephen for the past five years. Stephen has always had his ear to the ground regarding innovative new open-source tools and often leads the pack in being the first to try them in his classroom. When Stephen first brought MyOpenMath to our attention, he showed off how it addresses the limitations of other platforms with fixed question settings and restrictive assignment settings. This past year Stephen led the charge in creating MyOkanaganMath for our college, allowing full control of our student data on our own server. Stephen leads by example in how to create customized questions that integrate with Maple, GeoGebra, and Desmos (to name a few), creating an interactive experience for students to help them grasp harder concepts. This level of customization contributes to a more engaging and personalized learning experience for students while also providing instructors with the ability to design assignments that can be tailored to their teaching style and learning outcomes. I know both me and my students have benefited greatly from Stephen bringing MyOkanaganMath to our college.”
— Joya Danyluk, professor, Mathematics and Statistics, Okanagan College

“I’m thrilled to hear Stephen is being recognized for his extraordinary efforts in establishing MyOkanaganMath. Stephen and I are in the same office, and we often bounce ideas off each other. He introduced me to MyOpenMath (now affectionately known as grandMOM), and after playing around with it, we were convinced this would benefit our students immensely. We’ve seen how online assignments with randomized values, multiple attempts, multiple versions, and immediate feedback has improved student learning and engagement. MyOkanaganMath is not only free to students but also allows us to build more in-depth questions than any other platform I have used in the past. I can build randomized questions that closely resemble a written version of an assignment with multiple question types (e.g., multiple choice, followed by numeric answer, followed by essay box for interpretations). In statistics, students can practice R using the SageMathCell option in their assignment questions, and many functions have been programmed to mimic Excel output. I truly enjoy creating unique questions in MyOkanaganMath, and I am so grateful to Stephen for working tirelessly toward hosting our own version locally.” 
— Emelie Lee, professor, Mathematics and Statistics, Okanagan College 

Source: BCcampus.ca