7-12 Math Common Core Resources

Using ASSISTments, the student goes through assigned questions in sequence, working out the solutions on a sheet of paper and entering the answers into the computer. If the student gets the right answer, the program moves to the next question. If the answer is wrong, the program tells the student to try again. If the student struggles with the question or gets stuck, he or she can ask for a series of hints that will lead to the right answer.

Before students come to class the next day, teachers can look at a table, which shows whether the students got the answer correct and whether they requested hints to get to the answer. The table also breaks the statistics down into percentages. If 95 percent of the class gets a question right, there’s little need to spend time on it in class, but if only 25 percent get it right, the teacher might decide to review that topic. The program also tells teachers how long it’s taking students to complete their assignments.

“We don’t shop the same way we did 30 years ago. We don’t communicate the same way we did. So why do we teach students the same way?” Heffernan said

Heffernan said his goal is to evolve ASSISTments into something like Wikipedia,

ASSISTments users will help build an expansive bank of textbook questions, which teachers will dip into to select assignments. Only teachers and educational institutions, such as textbook producer Pearson, will have access to add to or alter ASSISTments entries.

There are similar homework and tutoring programs available, but ASSISTments is unique in that Heffernan provides it for free.

ASSISTments is a prime example of “formative assessment,” which allows teachers to observe student performance and adjust their teaching plan or techniques to help students better retain the material.

ASSISTments doesn’t restrict the role of the teacher, but rather it crunches numbers and presents statistics so teachers can do what they’re trained to do — teach