Developed by university educators, SmartWork is the most intuitive tutorial and online homework system available. By design, this software combines the flexibility of traditional paper homework with the administrative ease of computerized grading. Instructors can draw from Norton's bank of high-quality, class-tested, ready-made questions, or use our innovative quizzing engines to easily modify existing questions or write new ones. Students benefit from immediate answer-specific feedback that addresses common misconceptions and helps them learn from their mistakes.
For supported titles, SmartWork links seamlessly to a complete online ebook that matches its print counterpart page-for-page, and to additional multimedia resources that encourage active learning.
Motivate student learning
Every SmartWork question includes hints that suggest how to approach the problem, as well as feedback that addresses common errors. High-quality ready-made questions support a variety of problem types—inviting students to draw molecules, build graphs, write symbolic equations, and more—allowing teachers to assign the types of homework questions they would like to, if only they had time to grade the responses. And because all SmartWork questions are written specifically for the book they support, teachers can trust that they use a pedagogical model consistent with the text.
Offer additional help to students who need it
Every question includes hints and answer feedback; but for supported books, special Guided Tutorial questions go even further. Students who answer a Tutorial question incorrectly are presented with additional questions that break the original problem into a series of discrete steps. After working through these remedial steps, students are returned to the original problem to apply what they've learned.
Maintain full editorial control over questions
Many instructors use our class-tested questions "as is." However, instructors who wish to customize or even build their own questions can do so easily. SmartWork's full suite of authoring tools provides an uncomplicated environment for editing existing problems or creating new ones—without the need for any programming knowledge.
Discourage cheating with algorithmic variables
SmartWork supports the use of algorithmic variables so that students see slightly different versions of the same problem. This allows students to collaborate on general problem-solving strategies but makes it more difficult for them to share answers. Algorithmic variables are carried through to the fully worked solutions as well, so that when students review a solution, it uses the same values they saw in their own copy of the question.
Encourage study and review with an integrated ebook
For supported texts, SmartWork offers instant access an online ebook that mirrors the print book page for page. Reference links from assignments point students to relevant sections for review. The SmartWork and ebook package not only offers a seamlessly integrated set of learning resources but is also the best value for students.
Easily manage assignments and grades
SmartWork offers a full complement of tools for managing assignments and grades, including an at-a-glance gradebook that gives the instructor a visual summary of students' work. Instructors can easily export SmartWork grades as Excel or text formats.
Spend more time teaching
While the software engines that drive SmartWork are powerful, the system itself is intuitive and easy to use. Teachers new to SmartWork learn what they need to know in less than an hour. And students are up and running in moments. Our only system requirements are that users have a Flash-enabled browser and Internet access. There are no complex "tune-ups" or installation processes to add unwanted excitement to those first few days of class.