Computer Adaptive Practice for a Foundation Mathematics Course

Abstract

The Computer Adaptive Practice Quiz (CAP Quiz) is a Moodle plugin that uses an Elo rating system to facilitate mastery of mathematical skills. The CAP Quiz presents students with one question at a time and selects each question to give students an estimated 0.75 chance of getting the question correct. By working through questions until their score reaches a desired threshold, students achieve mastery of the required mathematical skills while being exposed to questions at an appropriate level. The CAP Quiz can be used with STACK questions to assess mathematical skills and has been especially useful for foundational skills such as fraction arithmetic and factorising.

Students entering tertiary foundation mathematics courses often arrive with misconceptions or knowledge gaps in foundational topics. I will outline how we have used the CAP Quiz to set up a co-requisite approach to achieving mastery in some identified core skills. I will also discuss the setup process for CAP Quiz, some initial reflection on the success of the co-requisite model, and some future developments and research questions.