Number.school in 60 seconds

Re-cycled marking...

Many pupils have tried the exercises in Number.school and experienced teachers have marked the attempts. Over time, the system has learned these mistakes and responses.

Now, whenever a new pupil makes a mistake which a teacher has previously marked, the system can respond with the teacher's comment.


Pupils can get their work marked by other experienced teachers as well as their own

For example, consider this question...

A line with gradient -3.2 passes through the point (-17.1, -2.9)
What is the equation of the line ?

Suppose a pupil begins begins their solution....

What was the mistake ?

...the pupil has mixed up substituting in x = 17.1 and y = -2.9

17.1 = -3.2 * -2.9 + c


But someone else has made this mistake before so Number.school intervenes with the teacher's comment as the pupil makes this mistake...

Effective marking gives pupils insight into their errors, distinguishes between slips and misunderstandings, and makes pupils notice and learn from the feedback.

Wanted! Proper mathematics
not pseudo-mathematics
Announcing a smart mathematics engine

Number.school employs a smart mathematics engine that understands all forms of an expression when it marks answers. For example, all of the expressions

are considered equivalent (for non-zero x)

Because reasoning skills are important

Pupils can explain their mathematics in full sentences (not just what the answer is, but how they know it’s the right answer). Therefore pupils can come up with their own strategies to find answers, not just practice procedures. This is key to building reasoning skills.

How can mistakes be treated as valuable ?

Since the system automatically marks the answers, teachers have the time to write diagnostic comments on any errors. The pupils can resubmit their work again and again and grow their understanding in a Socratic dialogue with their teacher. Failure is treated as 'not yet succeeded.'

How can I apply "Assessment For Learning" given the large number of pupils I teach ?

After a class attempts a homework exercise, the system highlights the most poorly understood parts of the exercise. The teacher can then focus on these misconceptions and give each pupil indivualised feedback to close the gap to where they need to be. Different pupils can be targeted with approriate extension exercises.

Ability is not fixed, but can be developed through support and practice.

How can I match the resources to the needs of my own pupils ?

Teachers can create new exercises or improve existing ones to match the needs of their pupils. There is an ever-growing bank of improving resources.

Any teacher can create and share an exercise and any other teacher can improve it.