another Khan Academy question

[ABQmom]

So, I have my son started on Khan Academy Algebra thanks to the help of this board.  Now, I just don't understand how to track his progress.  Any helps on how to figure this out?  I see the activity summary, but I don't know how to use the information.  "Oh, good job son.  You got 13 badges today."  or  "Good job son, I see you are struggling with 1 skill, leveled up in 13 skills, and need practice with 3 skills."  What does any of that even mean??  I'm lost because I can't see, for instance, how many he got wrong and what the mistakes were.  Will Khan move him to practice those skills he needs practice in.  What do I do in the meantime?  This is definitely a learning curve for me.

 

Another question:  How much time do you all expect your children to work on this daily?  My ds isn't self-motivated in math.  He will need me to say, "Do this for X amount of minutes every day."  

 

 

[Tranquility7]

Sorry I can't help, but I have the same question! :bigear:

[Matryoshka]

Are you signed up as his coach?  You can definitely see what he's gotten wrong and right, by problem, including what his answer was.  It will track back in a focus topic over a large number of problems.  You can also see exactly which kinds of problems he's worked on that day (or you can select longer time frames), individually and there's also a kind of pie chart that shows how much relative time he spent on each topic.  You can also give him a "coach recommendation" for working on a topic (I usually recommend things my dd has had trouble with - she has to then get 5 in a row right.  This usually gets her over the hump).

 

If you are signed up as his coach, tell me what screen you're looking at and I should be able to point you in the right direction.  If you're not, go do that first. :)

[Erin]

Additionally, you can track his percent progress...

[Jean in Newcastle]

As Matryoshka said, you have to get 5 in a row correct.  If you do, they will put you up a level.  Then you get a chance to prove your knowledge in a mastery challenge.  If you get those problems correct, then you will be leveled up.  If you don't, then it will put you back to the previous level to practice some more.  If you level up, it will keep asking you similar problems (but with a slightly higher difficulty) until you actually hit mastery.  There are 4 levels in all (practice, level 1, level 2 and mastery).  I require my kids to do all mastery challenges available (if any) and then (depending on the child and their ability) two or three new skills.  

[ABQmom]

Are you signed up as his coach?  You can definitely see what he's gotten wrong and right, by problem, including what his answer was.  It will track back in a focus topic over a large number of problems.  You can also see exactly which kinds of problems he's worked on that day (or you can select longer time frames), individually and there's also a kind of pie chart that shows how much relative time he spent on each topic.  You can also give him a "coach recommendation" for working on a topic (I usually recommend things my dd has had trouble with - she has to then get 5 in a row right.  This usually gets her over the hump).

 

If you are signed up as his coach, tell me what screen you're looking at and I should be able to point you in the right direction.  If you're not, go do that first. :)

 

Yes, I am his coach.  Okay, so I see now the problem he did by hovering over the bar graph.  But, I don't see his answer or what the correct answer is--just the problem.  I see whether or not he got it right or wrong....

 

I don't understand what you mean by "track back in a focus topic..."  Sorry!  I feel so illiterate!

 

Ok, I did see the pie chart, but now I can't find it again.  I've been looking at the "active summary" page.  How do I give him a coach recommendation? 

 

Also, what do those badges tell me?  Or, are they just for the student for motivation?  And, I see energy points?  What are those?

 

Thanks for taking the time to help.  I feel like a dummy!

[ABQmom]

As Matryoshka said, you have to get 5 in a row correct.  If you do, they will put you up a level.  Then you get a chance to prove your knowledge in a mastery challenge.  If you get those problems correct, then you will be leveled up.  If you don't, then it will put you back to the previous level to practice some more.  If you level up, it will keep asking you similar problems (but with a slightly higher difficulty) until you actually hit mastery.  There are 4 levels in all (practice, level 1, level 2 and mastery).  I require my kids to do all mastery challenges available (if any) and then (depending on the child and their ability) two or three new skills.  

 

Hmm... So, are the mastery challenges optional?  What do you mean when you say you "require" your kids to do them if available?  My ds won't do anything I haven't required.  Ha!

 

 

 

[Jean in Newcastle]

Badges and energy points are just for student motivation.  The badges will tell you if they've passed certain milestones (15 skills for example) but doesn't really mean anything academically.  Each skill is pretty specific.  So if he got wrong something it will come up again - sometimes the exact same problem but usually similar problems but with different numbers plugged in.  So I don't worry about what he did wrong in a specific problem.  If he were to get a couple wrong in a row, I would make sure he watched the video again if he had already watched it or for the first time if he had  tried the problems without doing the video.  Also - unless he's doing a mastery challenge, they are not allowed to move on to the next problem unless they get it right.  So if he gets it wrong, I would have him hit the hint button and read their explanation of how they got the correct answer.  It will be marked wrong anyway so taking the time to see how they did it will not penalize him any extra.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Hmm... So, are the mastery challenges optional?  What do you mean when you say you "require" your kids to do them if available?  My ds won't do anything I haven't required.  Ha!

Oh - I just meant that I require them to do them first before going on to new skills.  You can proceed through level 2 without doing mastery challenges but the program will not allow you to actually "master" it without doing the challenges.  Think of the challenges as mini tests.  

[Matryoshka]

Yes, I am his coach.  Okay, so I see now the problem he did by hovering over the bar graph.  But, I don't see his answer or what the correct answer is--just the problem.  I see whether or not he got it right or wrong....

 

I don't understand what you mean by "track back in a focus topic..."  Sorry!  I feel so illiterate!

 

Ok, I did see the pie chart, but now I can't find it again.  I've been looking at the "active summary" page.  How do I give him a coach recommendation? 

 

Also, what do those badges tell me?  Or, are they just for the student for motivation?  And, I see energy points?  What are those?

 

Thanks for taking the time to help.  I feel like a dummy!

 

So, you go to the tab that says Progress.  (Across the top there are the following tabs: Profile / Badges / Progress / Discussion / Programs).

 

Then underneath, sub-tabs show up: Skills / Coach Recommendations / Videos / Activity / Focus.  This is where you get all your info.

 

Skills should show up as the default after you hit Progress.

 

On the Skills page, there's a horizontal bar chart across the top that gives you an overview of how far he's gotten in the Challenge - How many he's Mastered vs. Practiced, if he's Struggling in anything.  Below that is a list of topic areas (for example, MIssion Foundations, Intro to Algebra, Linear Equations).   If you click on the little arrow to the left of each larger topic area, it expands so the whole list of individual topics show up.  The topics he's worked on that day (or over whatever timeframe you've chosen to view) will be highlighted in dark blue, with the total number of questions attempted and how much time he spent on each topic to the right.  If you click on one of the dark blue highlighted topics (they are hyperlinks), you will be brought to a page with a bar chart showing how many problems he tried and how many he got right/wrong, as well as whether he used a hin or watched a video.  Then, if you click on one of the bars, it will bring you to the problem itself, show you what it is, and what answer he gave.

 

Coach recommendations can be given from a few places.  There will be a link on the upper right of each bar chart like the one I mention above - unfortunately it does not automatically recommend the topic you're looking at (I think it should).  It brings up a list of every darned topic Khan has, even ones not in the challenge (??).  Use Ctrl-F to search for the topic you want to recommend.  You can use the Coach Recommendation tab to track how he's doing with them.

 

Activity gives you a bar chart with how much time he's spent on Khan that day or over whatever timeframe you've chosen to look at.  Unfortunately, there's an ongoing bug so that today's time either doesn't show up or is wildly inaccurate, so I look back a few days to at least see the past.  I have reported this, but it persists.

 

Focus  is the little pie/donut chart showing how much time he's spent on each subject he's attempted that day (or timeframe you've chosen to look at).

 

Badges are indeed just for motivation, but if you click on the Badges tab here, you can see exactly what the badge was given for (5 in a row correct, Persistence on a topic, etc.)

 

Dd always does as many Mastery Challenges as it will let her, then picks topics till her time's up, which I've set at 15 min. for practice/review.  It was more over the summer when we weren't doing regular math.

 

hth!!

 

[ABQmom]

Matryoshka,

 

Thanks so much for all this detail.  I am currently working through your descriptions, so I may have more questions, but I wanted to say thanks!

[ABQmom]

So, you go to the tab that says Progress.  (Across the top there are the following tabs: Profile / Badges / Progress / Discussion / Programs).

 

Then underneath, sub-tabs show up: Skills / Coach Recommendations / Videos / Activity / Focus.  This is where you get all your info.

 

Skills should show up as the default after you hit Progress.

 

On the Skills page, there's a horizontal bar chart across the top that gives you an overview of how far he's gotten in the Challenge - How many he's Mastered vs. Practiced, if he's Struggling in anything.  Below that is a list of topic areas (for example, MIssion Foundations, Intro to Algebra, Linear Equations).   If you click on the little arrow to the left of each larger topic area, it expands so the whole list of individual topics show up.  The topics he's worked on that day (or over whatever timeframe you've chosen to view) will be highlighted in dark blue, with the total number of questions attempted and how much time he spent on each topic to the right.  If you click on one of the dark blue highlighted topics (they are hyperlinks), you will be brought to a page with a bar chart showing how many problems he tried and how many he got right/wrong, as well as whether he used a hin or watched a video.  Then, if you click on one of the bars, it will bring you to the problem itself, show you what it is, and what answer he gave.

 

Coach recommendations can be given from a few places.  There will be a link on the upper right of each bar chart like the one I mention above - unfortunately it does not automatically recommend the topic you're looking at (I think it should).  It brings up a list of every darned topic Khan has, even ones not in the challenge (??).  Use Ctrl-F to search for the topic you want to recommend.  You can use the Coach Recommendation tab to track how he's doing with them.

 

Activity gives you a bar chart with how much time he's spent on Khan that day or over whatever timeframe you've chosen to look at.  Unfortunately, there's an ongoing bug so that today's time either doesn't show up or is wildly inaccurate, so I look back a few days to at least see the past.  I have reported this, but it persists.

 

Focus  is the little pie/donut chart showing how much time he's spent on each subject he's attempted that day (or timeframe you've chosen to look at).

 

Badges are indeed just for motivation, but if you click on the Badges tab here, you can see exactly what the badge was given for (5 in a row correct, Persistence on a topic, etc.)

 

Dd always does as many Mastery Challenges as it will let her, then picks topics till her time's up, which I've set at 15 min. for practice/review.  It was more over the summer when we weren't doing regular math.

 

hth!!

 

Ok, so Monday is here and were are working on Khan again.  Sigh.  I do not understand about the horizontal bar chart--I see the colored bar chart and numbers when I hover over them, but I have no idea what those numbers mean.  Also, I get how to view the problem he worked on and got wrong, but I don't see his answer anywhere.  You had stated that it showed the answer he gave?  I can't find it.  This program is either not very user friendly, or I'm just slow.   :)   Does anyone else find Khan hard to figure out?

[Jean in Newcastle]

Have you thought of doing some Khan yourself?  I learned the most by doing the process myself.  

 

ETA - this may help you to see if this truly is the kind of program that is best for your child.  Perhaps he might do better with Teaching Textbooks?  

[Matryoshka]

Ok, so Monday is here and were are working on Khan again.  Sigh.  I do not understand about the horizontal bar chart--I see the colored bar chart and numbers when I hover over them, but I have no idea what those numbers mean.  Also, I get how to view the problem he worked on and got wrong, but I don't see his answer anywhere.  You had stated that it showed the answer he gave?  I can't find it.  This program is either not very user friendly, or I'm just slow.   :)   Does anyone else find Khan hard to figure out?

 

So, the horizontal Skills bar chart.  Let's take the one that says "Mission Level Skills" for Algebra.  There's a ratio at the end that says X/167.  167 is the total number of Algebra Skills to be mastered.  The number taking the place of the X is the number he's mastered so far.  The bar chart is a representation of this - the dark blue on the right is the number of skills Mastered, the light blue in the middle is the number of skills Practiced, and the gray on the right is the number of Needs Practice.  If your child is Struggling in any Skills, there will also be a red bar on the far left showing how many skills he is Struggling in.  The numbers correspond to how many Skills in each category.

 

For the wrong answers, if you click on one of the red vertical bar charts where you can see the individual problems he's attempted, you can see what he answered up at the top, in a red box, as well as hints and second attempts at an answer, if used.  Sometimes you can't see this info, in that case you'll see a big yellow bar up top in its place, which says Problem history is not yet available for this exercise.

 

[Tranquility7]

Ok, so Monday is here and were are working on Khan again.  Sigh.  I do not understand about the horizontal bar chart--I see the colored bar chart and numbers when I hover over them, but I have no idea what those numbers mean.  Also, I get how to view the problem he worked on and got wrong, but I don't see his answer anywhere.  You had stated that it showed the answer he gave?  I can't find it.  This program is either not very user friendly, or I'm just slow.   :)   Does anyone else find Khan hard to figure out?

 

Yes, I definitely have a love-hate relationship with Khan Academy (mostly hate at the moment, since it is wasting my time). I used to be a software developer before I had kids, so I'm generally very good at figuring new programs out, but I am seriously surprised at how convoluted and confusing Khan Academy can be. It's ridiculous how unintuitive the interface is. I tried setting up my kids in Khan months ago and finally just gave up in frustration because I could not figure out how to control what they were presented and when, and how to check on their progress. They hated it because they were constantly getting random material that totally jumped around and was either way too hard or way too easy. Now I'm trying to figure it out yet again. :001_rolleyes:

 

Thanks to Matryoshka and Jean for the helpful info provided on this thread. But I'm still having trouble so I'm adding a question of my own :)

 

I set up my own account and my kids. Then in order to "coach" them (I guess?) it looked like I had to Add a Class.

I added a class called "DS's Class" and I added DS to it. I set the mission for "DS's Class" to be "3rd grade math".

Then I added a class called "DD's Class" and I added DD to it. I set the mission for DD's Class to be "Early Math".

 

So why now when I log in as DS, his Home page has under "Currently working on" the two missions of "Math - Arithmetic" and "4th Grade - Fractions"? Where is the 3rd Grade Math that I put him in?

 

And for DD why does her home page not show anything? Shouldn't it have her working on Early Math, since that is the class I put her in?  For her at least I have been able to add it so that it now does show Early Math, but why wouldn't it have shown up to begin with, since I put her in the class with that mission in my parent account?

 

On DS's account, I can navigate to 3rd Grade math using the Subject menu at the very top of the page. But if I choose 3rd Grade math there, it still never shows up on his Home page under Currently Working on... - even thought that is EXACTLY what he is working on, and it is the only mission of the only class I put him in. That just makes no sense to me. What am I missing here?

 

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!!

[rlestina]

Khan lets the child select their own mission(s), it does not restrict them to the mission you set for them.  It will also suggest missions based on what they are working on.  From what I've seen, if I want one of my children working on a particular mission, I have to actually log in as them and set the mission that way, or just tell them to set it. 

 

Mostly, I just have my kids work on the mission "World of Math", because that lets them pick skills based on their interests.  But I also make heavy use of coach recommendations, and of course as others have mentioned, i tell them they must complete all mastery challenges before moving on to new skills.  Khan will not enforce that for you - it will suggest the mastery challenge but won't require it.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I coach both of my kids as students that are not added to a class.  it keeps telling me to create a class - I just ignore it.   :coolgleamA:

 

Dd's mission (which I did not set) is simply what she's working on.  We just click on her level on the dashboard.  I really am aided by the fact that I am right next to dd whenever she does her math.  So I can't answer so much the questions about how to look at progress and skills because I know all of those by simply being there.  (Sorry!)  

 

I'll just tell  you how we do it:  Every day dd opens up her tab for Khan (we just have it pinned for ease).  It opens at her dashboard.  Sometimes it just shows the percent done on that grade level and sometimes it shows the specific skills under that.  If the skills don't show, we click under the percent circle where it says "Show all skills"  and it will show boxes.   Usually there is a mastery challenge (or two) available to do because we always do new material every day.  If you don't do any new material and have mastered everything to date, it won't show a mastery challenge.  Once she finishes the mastery challenge (which is the only thing I allow her to do without my presence), she calls me to show me how much her percentage has increased.   :hurray:  :hurray:  :hurray:   Then we look at those boxes I mentioned.  I am mean in that I require her to work through all the mission foundations before allowing her to do any other topics.  So at first, she will choose the next available (uncolored) box in mission foundation.  We do those in order because they are foundational and do progress.  I will allow her to try to do the skill without the video at first but if she misses three in a row, then we do the video and/or I explain it.  I usually have her do a skill until she has met the requirement set by the computer (usually first 3 correct or 5 in a row after a miss) but sometimes if she's done the video and has worked hard and I see that she is fatiguing, I'll let her just click the X on the top right of the skill box and go on.  The computer will keep her place for the next day in that skill.  On a normal day we will do two skills in a row.  For dd, that is a good place to stop.  So we do.   If we've done all the mission foundations for that grade level, then I allow her to choose the two skills we work on.  She can choose from arithmetic operations, fractions, place value and decimals, measurement and data, geometry, algebraic thinking.  She tends to try and skip fractions which I let her but I tell her that sooner or later she's going to be left with just fractions as a choice.  

 

I don't know if it helps your specific questions but maybe it will help just to see how someone else uses this successfully.  (At least it seems to be working for us and we're both pretty happy with it.)

[ABQmom]

I am a bit frustrated again tonight.  I cannot for the life of me figure out how I made a coach recommendation!  I've done it twice now, but for some reason, I can't do it again like I did before.  I'm clicking on my name, then "your children", but there is no place that I can see to go from there successfully.  I'm sure I'm just missing something.  Can someone help?  I've read the directions from the Khan PDF, but they don't match up with what I am seeing on my screen.  TIA.

[Jean in Newcastle]

I am a bit frustrated again tonight.  I cannot for the life of me figure out how I made a coach recommendation!  I've done it twice now, but for some reason, I can't do it again like I did before.  I'm clicking on my name, then "your children", but there is no place that I can see to go from there successfully.  I'm sure I'm just missing something.  Can someone help?  I've read the directions from the Khan PDF, but they don't match up with what I am seeing on my screen.  TIA.

coach - student progress - (student's name) - right hand side :  make a recommendation

[ABQmom]

coach - student progress - (student's name) - right hand side :  make a recommendation

 

 

Hmmm.... Okay, so I go to my name in upper right hand corner.  A menu drops down and I click "your children".  The next screen should have "coach" somewhere to click?  I don't see it.   :confused1:         If I try clicking on son's name first, I still don't see the word "coach" anywhere that produces what I'm looking for.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Are you signed up as a coach?  At the very top of my Khan page I have:  the Khan academy logo, Subject (drop down menu), Coach (in green), Search etc.

 

I think you can add yourself as a coach by clicking on the Khan logo and then where it says coaches on the top right hand side.

[ABQmom]

Are you signed up as a coach?  At the very top of my Khan page I have:  the Khan academy logo, Subject (drop down menu), Coach (in green), Search etc.

 

I think you can add yourself as a coach by clicking on the Khan logo and then where it says coaches on the top right hand side.

Well, I thought that I was; however, I see everything you've explained BUT the word coach.  I will look into what I've done wrong--hopefully that's it!  It's gotta be, right?  

:001_smile:   Thanks!

[Jean in Newcastle]

I hope it works. 

[ABQmom]

Unfortunately, I can't seem to figure this out.  So, I followed your directions--I still see no place where the word coach exists.  I see the Khan logo--clicked that.  Nothing.  So then I looked around more and found a place where it said your child needed to add you as a coach to his account.  So we started to do that, but I noticed that on his account, I am listed as his coach.  I've also been getting e-mails for the last couple of weeks explaining his progress, etc.  I even got on a different computer today to see if my laptop was just having a problem.  Still nothing.  Thanks Jean for your help.  I appreciate you taking the time.  I guess if I don't figure it out, I will need to find something else for math.  Sigh.  

[Jean in Newcastle]

Try going to the bottom of the page:  Contact 

 

It should go to their Help Center.

 

There is a Teachers and Coaches guide.  

[Tranquility7]

Jean, thanks so much for all your help. This is so weird, but I do think we see something different on our screens than you see. I wonder if it has something to do with how we signed up (parent vs teacher?). Not sure.

 

That being said, I think I kind of now have things set up the way I want. I finally got the correct missions to show up on both of my kids' homepages (dashboards?). Unfortunately I have no idea HOW I did it, since I tried so many different things! *sigh* But I do have it working, at least for now.

 

ABQmom - it does sounds like you are your DC's coach. I did figure out the Make a Recommendation thing using the Khan PDF, but that PDF *assumes* that you already have your child in a class. Have you created a class, and added your child to it? I had to do that *first*, and then I could use the Khan PDF to send a recommendation.

 

I think this might be how you can do it without having your kids in a class first:

When you first log in, does it put you on this page: https://www.khanacademy.org/parent ?

 

If so, go to your name on the far right top and look at the dropdown menu there. My menu options are: Profile, Learning Home, Your Students, Your Children, Settings, Help ,Logout. Is that what you have?

 

If so, click on Your Students.

The next page that appears is https://www.khanacademy.org/coach/dashboard

Across the very top I have Khan Academy logo, then Subjects dropdown menu, then a Search box, Home, Notifications, then my name menu.

Just below that I have another set of tabs that are: Dashboard, Manage Students, Student Progress, Skill Progress, Grid, Activity, Real Time, Programs. Is that what you have?

 

If so, click on Student Progress.

The next page shows the same top menus and tab list, but under that it has something that says Class with a dropdown menu beside it, and then Mission also with a dropdown.

 

Click on Class to see the dropdown, and choose All students.

 

Scroll down on that page and in the lower left quadrant is a list of your students by login. Click on the student to whom you are wanting to send a recommendation.

 

That students information now shows up on the lower right quadrant (across from the list of names). There is also a link there for Make a Recommendation.

 

Have to admit I don’t know much about making recommendations since I just want my kids working on whatever is next in their mission (since we mainly use Khan for review), but does that help you at least be able to do it if you want to?

[ABQmom]

Jean, thanks so much for all your help. This is so weird, but I do think we see something different on our screens than you see. I wonder if it has something to do with how we signed up (parent vs teacher?). Not sure.

 

That being said, I think I kind of now have things set up the way I want. I finally got the correct missions to show up on both of my kids' homepages (dashboards?). Unfortunately I have no idea HOW I did it, since I tried so many different things! *sigh* But I do have it working, at least for now.

 

ABQmom - it does sounds like you are your DC's coach. I did figure out the Make a Recommendation thing using the Khan PDF, but that PDF *assumes* that you already have your child in a class. Have you created a class, and added your child to it? I had to do that *first*, and then I could use the Khan PDF to send a recommendation.

 

I think this might be how you can do it without having your kids in a class first:

When you first log in, does it put you on this page: https://www.khanacademy.org/parent ?

 

If so, go to your name on the far right top and look at the dropdown menu there. My menu options are: Profile, Learning Home, Your Students, Your Children, Settings, Help ,Logout. Is that what you have?

 

If so, click on Your Students.

The next page that appears is https://www.khanacademy.org/coach/dashboard

Across the very top I have Khan Academy logo, then Subjects dropdown menu, then a Search box, Home, Notifications, then my name menu.

Just below that I have another set of tabs that are: Dashboard, Manage Students, Student Progress, Skill Progress, Grid, Activity, Real Time, Programs. Is that what you have?

 

If so, click on Student Progress.

The next page shows the same top menus and tab list, but under that it has something that says Class with a dropdown menu beside it, and then Mission also with a dropdown.

 

Click on Class to see the dropdown, and choose All students.

 

Scroll down on that page and in the lower left quadrant is a list of your students by login. Click on the student to whom you are wanting to send a recommendation.

 

That students information now shows up on the lower right quadrant (across from the list of names). There is also a link there for Make a Recommendation.

 

Have to admit I don’t know much about making recommendations since I just want my kids working on whatever is next in their mission (since we mainly use Khan for review), but does that help you at least be able to do it if you want to?

 

This is it!!!  This works for me!!!  Oh my word, thank you, thank you, thank you!!  I thought I was going crazy. 

 

:hurray: :hurray: :hurray:

 

 

[Tranquility7]

YAY!!!!!!  :party: I've been driven nutty by Khan, so I'm glad I could help someone else out for a change, LOL!