Using Symbols of Success to Inform Learning and Instruction

ASSISTments is committed to delivering feedback to students and their teachers. Students receive feedback, instantly, as they complete their homework or classwork. Teachers can tune in to student progress by viewing the Assignment Report, which helps inform instruction via insights on individual student learning and the common misconceptions of the class. Teachers can learn what percent of the class arrived at the correct answer and what the common wrong answers are for each question. Additionally, teachers can view individual student details including the amount of attempts before the student arrived at the correct answer and how long the student spent on each problem. These insights, both on class and individual student performance, provide critical assessment information for teachers that can inform class instruction.

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One of the ways students receive feedback is from the ASSISTments symbols of success. Let’s dive in a little deeper: students receive visual cues from the four symbols below to show how they’re progressing through the assignment. The symbols don’t only indicate right or wrong, but also signal how many attempts a student used, if they required a hint, and if they are receiving full, partial or no credit. Both teachers and students can take a look at the symbols of success as an easy reference. For teachers, they can quick see how students are arriving at the correct answer and where they may need to focus instructional time. For student, they can use the symbols of success to become leaders of their own learning and recognize when they were able to arrive an an answer without help and when help was required.

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Beginning January 2023, teachers will have the option to decide if students at the end of their assignment seeing their scores or just seeing rewarding symbols of success for each problem. Selecting that students just see the symbols of success  can more easily help them view ASSISTments as a tool for advancing their learning rather than as a tool to measure learning.

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The Symbols of Success are a powerful tool that can allow, students to track their own progress through immediate feedback. Hints and wrong answers can guide students toward the correct answer. Furthermore, student understanding of how their interaction with an assignment can be used to enhance their learning is critical to creating the investment required for students to embrace challenging material in the classroom. We see a transition here from a focus on “right or wrong” to a focus on the learning journey.

When students see the “submitted, not graded” symbol next to a question, the question is often an open response and either the student typed in or uploaded a picture of their answer. If there is a “submitted, not graded” symbol next to an answer, a teacher’s attention is needed to check in on a student’s open response. 

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In addition, teachers can leverage the Symbols of Success by viewing data reports. To view class performance, teachers can navigate to the Assignment Report. By clicking on a student name in the item report, a teacher can see how individual students progressed through a problem set. These insights can be used to guide support for individual students, and can inform instructional interventions such as assigning Skill Builders where specific students require extra practice. 

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ASSISTments is designed to provide teachers and students with visual cues to easily track learning progress. Teachers use these cues to assess how students are responding to the material and students use them for deeper engagement in their learning