The Guide to the PiXL Maths App 2017 PiXL Club Ltd
Page Description 2 Contents, what is the PiXL Maths App and what is diagnosis, therapy and testing? 3 Route map of the app student and teacher perspective 5 How do you access the app? How do you login? 5 Creating or editing student accounts 7 Design a test 8 Skills overview and Class analysis student and teacher perspective 9 Arithmetic 10 Take a challenge and analysing the results (including covey board and top 10 hit list worksheets) 12 Homework tasks student and teacher perspective 13 Scoreboard 14 Gap Analysis student and teacher perspective 19 Usage data What is the PiXL Maths App? The PiXL Maths App is a resource that puts the power of PiXL in the hands of the people that can make a difference...you! Whether you are a member of staff or a student, the tool enables you to identify strengths and areas to develop within the Mathematics curriculum. The app was built from the outstanding work of colleagues at Hinchingbrooke School and around the core principles of PiXL (Diagnosis, Therapy and Testing). The app contains a range of in-built questions that allow students to practice (on or offline) the core skills within the Mathematics curriculum to ensure success in any GCSE exam. The app then allows areas of weakness to be remedied through therapy videos to ensure progress is made. With the ability of creating endless questions around the same topic, students are then able to test themselves to ensure that the problem has been resolved. To ensure all stakeholders are kept informed, the data can be exported in a range of formats including pdf report, csv file and onscreen coveyboard. The app also contains the ability of assessing strengths and areas of weakness within written papers via the gap analysis tool. The tool contains a bank of question level analysis templates and a platform for you to share your own template for others to use. One of the strongest parts of the app is the ability to promote engagement. Schools across the country are centering their rewards programme around the use of the PiXL Maths App. The built in scoreboard features enable schools to quickly monitor the use both at staff and student level. What is diagnosis, therapy and testing? Diagnosis - The act of finding areas that require further revision. Therapy - The resources that enable you to move past the learning hurdle. Testing - The process that shows that learning has happened and that the therapy has worked. 2
Route Map For Students Visit https://mathsapp.pixl.org.uk Daily challenge Login Use the details created by your staff Edit profile Opportunity to make your account more secure Design a test Take a challenge Homework Tasks Arithmetic Gap Analysis Online question bank Complete questions at your target grade Complete a teacher designed test Score board Target core numeracy skills Enter question level analysis data Search for key topics Questions rewrite themselves Build confidence Questions rewrite themselves Walking talking mocks/marks Curve 1 Skills Overview Questions rewrite themselves Therapy PowerPoints Create a workbook based on your areas of weakness Complete questions from the online bank Therapy videos Therapy videos Curve 2 View a summary report Therapy PowerPoints Therapy PowerPoints Summary Works offline The diagram above highlights how the work from all online assessments feeds into the scoreboard and skills overview. Both the scoreboard and the skills overview are based on engagement. For attainment data, this information is fed from each student account into the Class analysis feature of a staff account. RESILENCE AWARENESS KNOWLEDGE SUCCESS 3
Route Map For Teachers How to find it? Visit https://mathsapp.pixl.org.uk to access the most relevant platform of the app Login Use your PiXL id, STAFF and your regional PiXL password Usage data Class analysis Class lists Analyse results of online bank of questions Add, edit or delete single students Bulk add or edit students Covey board Summary pdf report csv export Analyse results by specifc grade Password slips Covey board Top 10 hit list Design a test Take a challenge Homework Tasks Arithmetic Score board Gap Analysis Online question bank Therapy videos Demonstrate how students can complete questions at their target grade Set homework tasks See a covey board of the last set homework Target core numeracy skills Questions rewrite themselves View 10 top (engagement) PDF score board Students complete a QLA (written paper) Retrieve covey board results Therapy PowerPoints Summary See a covey board of all homework tasks Generate a summary report from the last homework Curve 1 resources Therapy PowerPoints csv export PDF report summary for each pupil csv download that includes www and ebi Create a summary workbook WTM and WTMa Shared resource with student profile (used for demonstration) Tools for staff 4
How do you access the app? In order to access the app, please go to https://mathsapp.pixl.org.uk. Your login details will be known by the raising standards leader or the head of Maths. Class lists Single student accounts can be added/edited or deleted via the tools within the app for mobile/tablet/desktop but can be done in bulk using the desktop tool. In order to begin, you need to be logged in as a member of staff. Select Class lists and a menu bar will drop down (Figure 1). In the orange menu bar, you will then have all the tools you need to manage student accounts. Figure 1 Figure 2 To add a single student, select Add a student. A proforma (Figure 2) will be pulled up that then needs to be completed. Although an email address is required to create the account, you could put to be set and students will then put their own email address in. To edit or delete a single student, single on Edit a student or Delete a student. The same console will then be shown (Figure 3). Select the text box and search for a student. All results will then be shown. Select a student that you want to edit or delete, then select EDIT or DELETE depending on your preference. Figure 3 Figure 4 To add, edit or delete more than 1 account, you will need a desktop computer and you will need to be using the desktop/website version of the app from https://mathsapp.pixl.org.uk. 5
By selecting Bulk add students or Bulk edit students (this includes deleting), the same console will appear (Figure 4). There are 4 stages to the process: 1) Download the csv (stage 1). For adding, it will be a blank template. For editing, it will be a csv of all students who currently have an account in your database. 2) Add students or make the changes according to the instructions in the csv. 3) Upload the csv (stage 2). 4) Provide students with password slips. In order to provide students with password slips, from under Class lists, select Passwords (Figure 5). There are 3 options: 1) On screen password display Select a class name and all student passwords will be shown (please be sure not to access this whilst displaying the information through a projector. 2) PDF report (Figure 6) The system will format password slips for you. These can then be easily printed out and stuck into student books. 3) CSV report All login information will be exported into a csv file so that you can then use it (possibly mail merge the information to parents). Figure 5 Figure 6 6
Design A Test Both students and staff have access to more than 130 questions assessing more than 220 separate Mathematical skills. The idea of Design a test is to allow students some freedom over what test they want to sit. This feature of the app gives students the full breadth of the Mathematics curriculum in which to assess themselves. For any question students attempt, they are offered PowerPoint and video tutorials if they get stuck. At the end of any designed test, they are able to see a breakdown of what went well that would help to improve their vocabulary. Figure 7 Figure 8 Figure 9 Figure 10 Figure 11 Figure 7 shows the options available when selecting Design a test from the menu bar. Figure 8 shows how the search facility works. If you start typing, the recommended questions will then appear. Alternatively, Figure 9 shows the individual questions. From this menu you can select as many as you like before selecting Begin test that will appear at the bottom. Figure 10 shows a typical question with the therapy resources (videos and PowerPoint) in the grey banner. When Mark all is selected, students will have the option to reset the question. Figure 11 shows the feedback screen. All information collected from students having completed an online test then goes back and feeds into Figure 9 and the skills overview. The Design a test feature is also available offline (on the login screen) for mobile/tablet users, except results will not be saved to a database. 7
Skills Overview The skills overview is an online record of the individual users progress with the online questions under Design a test, Take a challenge, Daily challenge or a set homework task. It outlines how successful a question has been attempted by colouring it red, amber or green (white means the question has not yet been attempted). Figure 12 Figure 13 Figure 14 When selecting Skills overview, both students and staff are shown a set of options that will allow them to analyse their individual progress within the app (Figure 12). By selecting the Success line, the user is then shown their progress when compared to the 6 strands of the Mathematics curriculum (Figure 13). This overview allows the user to see if they are falling down with any one of the core foci of the app. Figure 8 digs a little deeper and for each strand, it then identifies the skills that the user is doing well in and those that they need to improve in (highlighted by the RAG rating). Figure 14 shows a single users progress with the key skills. This information is transferred to the staff account and is available under Class analysis so they are able to look for trends across a class/cohort. 8
Class Analysis The Class analysis feature enables staff to be able to extract all information from what students have completed from the in-built question bank. The information is displayed in 3 ways: Covey board Similar to Figure 20. Each row represents a student and each column represents a separate skill. PDF report The pdf report has a summary page that highlights how well students have done with each skill and then a has a break down for each student. These pages are particularly useful in terms of highlighting progress between half terms. CSV export The csv produces a similar analysis to the pdf (albeit without the summary) but allows greater flexibility over how the data is analysed. Arithmetic The Arithmetic section targets an area highlighted by examiners reports for the last few years as being an area of weakness for students. The Arithmetic test is a journey through a range of different numeracy skills with the support of PowerPoint resources. This section operates similar to the Design a test feature with one difference; questions can t be skipped. Students will only be able to advance onto the next question once they have got it fully right. This emphasises the importance of this section and leaving no skill to chance in the exam. Figure 15 Figure 16 To access the Arithmetic section, select Arithmetic from the banner and then Begin/Resume. The system will then decide on whether you have accessed the test before and pick up from where you have left off if you have. Each question will require a pen and paper to answer it and it is worth reminding students of this fact. The questions aren t overly difficult for a year 11 student, but does reiterate key written skills. Some schools have used this section as a way of getting every student practising numeracy across all year groups by implementing it into an effective tutor time program. Let s make our students Arithmeticians Christina Moody 9
Take A Challenge/ Daily Challenge The Take A Challenge feature is a set of questions from Design a test that aims to provide students with the necessary skills to help them to move towards achieving their target grade. The Daily Challenge is one of the Take A Challenge questions given at first login. All questions that are answered via Take A Challenge or the Daily Challenge updates both the Skills Overview and the covey board that a teacher sees under Class Analysis. Daily Challenge Figure 17 Figure 18 Figure 17 shows the screen that students and staff will see after logging in. By selecting No, you will be able to use the full functionality of the app. If you select Yes, one of two things will happen: 1) You will be directed to the screen in Figure 18. From here you will be able to select your target grade (either using A*-G or 9-1). You will then begin a challenge. At this point you will be presented with all of the questions in that challenge, but do not need to complete them all as you will be able to pick up from where you left off when you next login. With each question you will have the use of the videos and PowerPoint tutorials that are associated with each question. 2) You will be directed to the next question in your challenge list. You will only be shown a single question from your challenge. You will have the same therapy material as you would with any question from Design a test. Take A Challenge After logging in, select Take A Challenge from the grey menu bar and Figure 18 will be shown. If you have previously started a challenge, you can select Resume and you will be able to pick up from where you have left off. If you haven t started a challenge before, you will need to select your target grade and then select Begin Challenge. With each question, they are differentiated so you might find that you will complete questions that are of a lower or higher skill than your target but are still important, as they will support or extend the learning. 10
Analysing the results of a challenge This feature is only available under a staff account. To access the analysis screen, go to Class analysis, then select the specific year group that you want to analyse. On the far right hand side of the bar that drops down, you can then choose to select grade 1/2/3, 4, 5, 6 or 7/8/9. A list of all groups will then appear for that chosen year group (Figure 11). By selecting a group s name, a covey board will then be shown. The covey board highlights all of the skills within the online bank of questions at the selected target grade. Each row represents a different student and each column represents a different skill (Figure 20). Figure 19 Figure 20 Top 10 Hit List Alongside each of the group names in Figure 19, a little pdf tool is displayed. By selecting this, you will be able to pull out the top 10 topics for that particular target grade that a student is yet to attempt or has got wrong. This will then provide you with a powerful resource that will pull the app into being used in a specific way in the classroom (Figure 21). Each question in the top 10 list has the question title from the built in question bank. Figure 21 11
Homework Tasks The Homework tasks tab enables staff to take control over what questions from the online bank they want students to complete. It also offers an opportunity for the app to bridge the void of home and school learning. Below outlines the workflow of the homework section (red circles indicate staff actions, blue circles indicate student actions): Select the "Homework tasks" tab, then select a year group and a class Design a test with as many questions as needed. Select "Set task" Students can find the homework task, by selecting "Homework tasks" then "Begin Homework" Figure 22 Figure 23 After the due date, staff need to return to the screen highlighted in the first stage of the homework phase. Instead of selecting a group, to analyse a homework, staff will select one of the 3 buttons shown in Figure 22. The first button is a pdf tool and creates an individual report for each student (Figure 23). The most powerful part of this is the follow up activities from the identified areas of weakness. The second button produces a covey board of all skills in the currently set homework. The third button produces a covey board of all homework tasks set. For each time the workflow is followed, a new homework task is set and replaces the old one. 12
Scoreboard Q: What s the best way of promoting use of the app? A: Focus on engagement rather than attainment. The app gives students points for every skill they attempt regardless of whether it is right or wrong. Students who engage with any of the following online sections will score points that will promote them up the leader board: 1) Design a test 2) Take a challenge 3) Daily challenge 4) Arithmetic 5) Homework Schools have seen that the leader board is not filled with the most gifted but a mixture of ability. This means lower ability students for the first time often see their names alongside the more able and gives them something positive. This then coupled with the fact that some schools have linked the output of the scoreboard with a whole school rewards system means students get more out of engaging with the app. When a student selects Scoreboard from the grey menu bar, they will see the top 10 list for their class (Figure 24). When staff select Scoreboard, they will need to choose a year group then a class name before seeing Figure 25. The staff account offers more output options as shown by Figure 25. Alongside each group is a PDF and csv export button. The PDF creates 2 ordered lists: the first by engagement with all resources, the second for the Arithmetic section (both are for all students, not just the top 10). This choice enables you to choose which printout you want to focus on based on key stage. Figure 24 Figure 25 The csv tool exports the following information into a spreadsheet so staff can perform their own calculations on the data: 1) Rank 2) Name 3) Arithmetic engagement 4) Skills mastered 5) Engagement points 13
What is a Gap Analysis? A gap analysis is the break down of an assessment into individual skills. The analysis allows both students and staff the opportunity to reflect on strengths and areas to develop. What steps as a member of staff would I need to go through to do a Gap Analysis with my class? Create or find a template for students to complete Students enter their results Analyse the results Direct students to then complete follow up tasks Search for a template As a member of staff, you can search for a template by selecting: Gap Analysis Retrieve Results Year Group Group Exam Board This will then display all existing Gap Analysis templates for that specific year group and exam board. Create a template You can create a template by using the on-screen functions under: Gap Analysis Create Template Year Group Exam Board You will need to provide a template title, all question numbers, all assessment objectives and the number of marks for each question (feed forward activities are optional). 14
Alternatively, you can create a template by uploading the above information in a csv file following the instructions found here: Gap Analysis Upload Template Stage 1 Stage 2 You will need to fill out the information in the csv that you download in Stage 1 then upload it in Stage 2. Entering data To alleviate the pressure from staff of entering data into a spreadsheet, students buy into their data by doing it for us from within the app. After they have logged in, they will need to select: Gap Analysis Exam Board Gap Analysis Title By following these steps, students should then see Figure 25: Figure 25 Figure 26 The title that students select should match the one that you want to analyse. By selecting a specific title, it will open the data entry sheet (example shown in Figure 26). Students are given the means to analyse their paper question by question. Each box is generally a different skill within that paper (labelled by question number and the number of marks). The data entry sheet colour codes after the information has been input and shows a running total. Errors on the sheet are shown in purple. By clicking Save, the results are sent to the teacher. 15
Analyse the results When you have logged in as a member of staff, you can draw upon the student data entry to look for collective areas of strength and weakness by selecting the following options from the main menu. Gap Analysis Retrieve Results Year Group Group Exam Board From here, you will be shown a list of Gap Analysis templates for your selected options. Alongside any Gap Analysis template, there are 4 key buttons. To analyse the results from a written paper where students have input their results already, you have 3 main buttons: 1) The title button this will produce a covey board of all the results 2) The csv button this will download all of the results into a csv (including the www and ebi comments) 3) The report button this will produce a summary pdf report and a report for each student (including www and ebi comments) It is worth noting that when logged in as a student and they select the pdf report button, they will be able to see their own report (this improve vocabulary and a students ability to highlight strengths and weaknesses). Follow up work from a test W-Book When logged in as a member of staff, selecting the W-Book option alongside a specific template will bring up a summary of all the results. Alongside the summary, the system will match the assessment objective of each skill being assessed with a worksheet from the PiXL PLC website. This will enable you to tailor a workbook that will target the collective key areas from the test. The system will pre-select all red areas first (example shown in Figure 27). Figure 27 Figure 28 16
When logged in as a student, selecting the W-Book option, would then bring up the same menu but will only display that particular students data. If the system doesn t select an appropriate worksheet based on the limited wording from a Gap Analysis assessment objective, you can swap out worksheets or deselect them by clicking the tick. Students have this capability also. When you have chosen to swap out a worksheet, Figure 28 will be shown. At the top it will show the assessment objective from the question, the worksheet title and the objective that it is being assessed in that worksheet to help guide you on what you are swapping. You can swap the current selected worksheet with either AO1 style worksheets (from the left menu) or problem solving worksheets (from the right menu). Selecting a sheet will show its objective at the bottom above the orange Swap Worksheet button. By selecting Swap Worksheet, the W-Book menu will be updated. Select Generate to compile your workbook. The workbook will then compose of the worksheet and the answers (this is the same for students). This will help it to be a selfrunning activity if done within the classroom or set as homework. Follow up work from a test FF When students are logged in, by selecting FF alongside a specific Gap Analysis title, it will search the built in question bank (questions from Design a test ) for suitable questions and then set them it as a mini test. All of the results of their FF task will be sent to Class analysis, Scoreboard and their Skills overview. Staff do not have this function within their accounts. How will Curve 2.0 work? Data will be entered into a master spreadsheet by staff. This file will then be uploaded to the main PiXL site. When students select the following from within the app, their results will pulled from the spreadsheet and a Gap Analysis will be set up for them. This will then mean all the above features will then be active. Homework tasks Curve 2.0 The data will only be pulled from the spreadsheet if admin numbers were provided in the spreadsheet and they match the admin numbers that were uploaded when you populated the class registers within the app. If admin numbers haven t been provided within the app, these can be added by doing the following (in a staff account): Class lists Bulk edit students Stage 1 Stage 2 17
Under stage 1 you will download a csv. This will show all existing accounts within your Maths App database. For each student, their admin number will need to be entered in under the Admin number column. Save the csv and upload it in stage 2. What is an admin number? Students are given two numbers when they join a school: UPN and an admin number. The UPN is used for National examinations to identify students nationally and is the one we do not want. The admin number is used within a school environment that is setup by the central admin team for your MIS/register system. These are the admin numbers to be used in the Maths App and the Curve results spreadsheets. The number in the "DO NOT CHANGE" column in the csv file that you download in stage 1 of bulk editing accounts, is a unique number given to each student within the app. This is not an admin number. 18
Usage data The usage data tab is available to staff only. This feature enables leaders to monitor who is engaging with the app. This provides evidence to challenge where it isn t possibly being used effectively. The data from the app is shown in two ways: 1) Cohort overview 2) Individual class overview To access the usage data, select Usage data from the home screen and the cohort overview will be shown (Figure 29). Figure 29 Figure 30 For each cohort or the individual class overview (shown in Figure 30), the statistics show the percentage of students who have accessed Design a test, Daily challenge, Take a challenge or a Homework task. The percentage completed highlights how much of the online material they have completed. A good target to aim for in terms of the online material is about 20%. This would then hopefully mean they have been working on material at their target grade. If as a school, you have been utilising the Gap analysis tool, the statistics also show how many templates students have completed. 19