Why my students like Deltamath

My survey question to 8th Graders was, if you liked Deltamath (a math practice site) as a distance learning tool, what did you like about Deltamath?


Here are the responses:

  • The very clear examples and how it is easy and not glitchy

  • There was always an example and there was a goal to work towards

  • 
I liked that if you didn’t understand something, it had examples to show you.

  • 
It felt totally normal like the homework we would usually have

  • 
Examples are clear easy to answer

  • 
It gave examples, helpful videos, and it was concrete. I also liked that it let you know if you were right or not.

  • 
I liked that it gave me a chance to put what I learned to use

  • 
I feel like the subjects are not super difficult but the problems are a good workout for ur brain

  • 
Also it tells you if you are right or wrong, so it helps you check answers

  • 
When it would show graphs and it would show you what you are trying to figure out.
  • Also that it explains what u do wrong after you get it wrong

  • 
It was fun and interactive, shifting to give you easier/harder questions if you were correct or incorrect.

By the way this last one is not true, Deltamath does not shift to giving you easier or harder questions. There is something psychologically fascinating about thinking that the software, which is essentially a random problem generator, is actually adapting to the student responses.

In any event, listen to what the students are saying: examples, examples, examples.

Update: Here are some more comments from students about Deltamath. (I lightly edited for legibility.)

  • Deltamath works well and is good for homework

  • 
I liked how Deltamath explained the problem if you didn’t understand it. Definitely my favorite out of all the tools we’ve used
.
  • It’s just easier than having to use paper and pen if i’m already on my computer in class

  • I like Deltamath because I am very familiar with and because it provides examples which are helpful for certain confusion topics.

  • It’s very organized which isn’t the case for a lot of other classes assignments

  • It’s 
also easier to work with other people

  • 
I’m kinda neutral on Deltamath, but I also feel like its a good way to learn

  • I liked Classkick more, I’m not sure why though
. I really don’t know why i think it may have just been the layout of the website or maybe just how you could do more types of assignments
.
  • I have no opinion
.
  • I really like getting the answer to the problem as soon as I solve them, like it’s really nice to have to get 5 questions right and learn what your doing wrong along the way instead of answering on work sheets and not being quite sure what your doing right until later
.
  • 
I like Deltamath because it is easy to use and it gives examples of question with step by step solving.


I asked students if they felt it was frustrating when they got something wrong. Here’s what they said to that.

  • 
Only if it takes away points
.
  • Deltamath can be frustrating when you get it wrong and there’s a penalty but otherwise it’s not that frustrating
.

Update to the update: here’s my other algebra class’s thoughts:

  • I love it, it is very organized
  • I liked the explanatory feature that it provided. Videos, examples etc…
  • I like Deltamath. Off the top of my head I can’t think of any part that is frustrating/not useful.
  • I think it was overall fine but bit less interactive than Desmos.
  • Delta math was my favorite because the questions were clear and although it wasn’t as visual as Desmos it still had some visual elements.
  • I like Deltamath a lot it’s really simple and easy to navigate
  • Desmos>>>>>>Deltamth because for me it helps to visualize it and Desmos does that
  • It was decent I mean the problems weren’t hard at all and I could complete them in the first 15 minutes of an asynchronous period. But Deltmath it self was an easy website to use.
  • I like it because it is easy to use and gives you clear feedback. And I feel that Classkick is hard to use and not great for online learning
  • I liked Deltamath because it was easy to understand what we were supposed to do and  when it was due.
  • Delta math was really good. The only thing that was a little frustrating was typing answers on keyboard. But otherwise it was very helpful, especially the help feature where it shows examples.

As a final question, I asked this class if they remembered times when they got frustrated and stopped working on the assignment. Do you remember which website you were using when you gave up on the assignment?

  • yes, on classkick
  • Yes, delta math, a few times actually
  • no not really
  • I think I got frustrated and stopped deltamath once
  • Yes a few times
  • Only a few times
  • Yes classkick
  • That never really happened to me
  • But I was very tired
  • mostly classkick
  • Yes. But I do not remember. It was not because of the site. More that I forgot about the assignment.
  • desmos
  • Sometimes I had trouble using classkick because it was  very technical and there were no specific inputs

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