Waymaker (Lumen)
Lumen Waymaker is a set of digital course materials designed using open educational resources (OER) instead of a traditional textbook. Lumen Waymaker courseware is based on “mastery learning.” (see below) There are separate versions of Waymaker for both microeconomics and macroeconomics. The content and course materials are based on OpenStax economics textbooks. Users can freely access all readings, videos, quizzes and other activities through a course site that is hosted on Canvas. The student cost for using Waymaker is currently $25.
- Lumen Waymaker is different from traditional textbooks in these ways:
- There is no separate textbook. Everything needed is located within the course website on Canvas.
- Content is divided into modules which are analogous to chapters in a traditional text.
- Learning outcomes are clear throughout the course. Every learning activity is linked directly to something that students need to know or do to succeed in this course.
- Students receive guidance on where to focus their attention. As they complete self-check questions and quizzes, they are given feedback on which areas need more attention.
- Students can take customizable graded quizzes twice. If a student doesn’t like their first quiz score, they can keep studying and retake it. The higher score counts.
- There are a variety of customizable assignments.
- Instructors can see where students are struggling. Learning data make it easy for instructors to see problem areas and offer individualized help.
- The more students use the course materials, the more the instructor can help. When students participate, it provides information to the instructor to help students succeed in the course.
- There are built in time-saving messaging tools to engage and encourage and nudge students.
- Lumen claims that it uses data to analyze what's working, what's not working, and how to improve the educational experience.
The website for the Lumen Waymaker economics courses is: https://lumenlearning.com/course-update-econ/ Links to an external site.
Steve Greenlaw of the University of Mary Washington helped develop the content for Lumen Waymaker and has worked with Lumen for five years. This is his assessment of Waymaker in a post from his Pedablogy blog entitled Mastery Learning & Personalized Digital Courseware.