Sometimes, when you enter numbers on Khan Academy, you make a typo. This is especially frequent when you are using the number pad on your computer, and you accidentally hit "enter" instead of "3", or the decimal icon. Can you guys come up with a solution to this problem? My suggestion is to add a "I made a typo" button when the message appears telling you that you got the problem wrong, but that's just me.
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This could also be addressed by the suggestion that has gotten a lot of attention here lately to provide a restart/reset button, to start over a quiz in which someone has already made an error instead of making them go through up to 13 additional questions that won’t contribute to a perfect score.
This would take a while to implement; the typos on my practice problems are bugging me right now. May I suggest that a restart challenge button would be the best middle ground between solving the typo problem and the one about abuse, but may I also remind you that if people intend to abuse the typo button they are not truly learning and wasting their time.
I'm not an expert on AI, so I unfortunately wouldn't be the one to ask. However, I do know computers can identify patterns and similarities between texts.
But mister711 is right: People are simply cheating themselves should they abuse the typo/restart button should it be added. It will catch up to them later.
While I like 100% as much as the next guy, ultimately who cares? On this site, the only thing that matters is that you learn the material you have chosen to study. So, if I have gotten 90% and I know the missed question was a simple typo, I move on.
On the other hand, if you're making a lot of typos, perhaps there is another issue. A lot of education is learning how to apply yourself to a problem and focus on it, rather than rushing through it. However, that applies to the process of education, not specific subject matter (which is the job Sal Khan addresses).
I do care about getting 100%. As a child growing up, I was a lazy, unmotivated child who rarely scored 100% or even close on exams. As a 65-year-old retired person, I want to persevere and score an eventual 100% on every Khan Academy practice I attempt.
That said, as a user of the iPad app version of Khan Academy, I have to answer most of my questions using a handwriting recognition tool. Early on, I was getting a lot of Try Agains, not because I did anything wrong but because my handwriting was not recognized properly. I had to learn to look in the actual box to which my answer is transferred before getting quick on the draw to hit Check. After 7 months of using this tool, I think I have begun to apply myself this way. But I hate that word “apply” when it comes to doing things that I don’t want to spend too much time on. I can totally relate to a line from the Neil Diamond song “Brooklyn Roads”, regarding what his teacher told his mother when he brought home poor report cards: “Got a good head if he’d apply it.” (Neil Diamond is the guy who wrote that “Sweet Caroline” song you hear at a lot of U.S. sports events.)
Anyway, because I am taking all of that time applying myself to the translation of my handwriting and focusing on what the interpretation of what I just wrote is, I am getting more 100% scores the first time. Ironically, I just got my first Try Again of working several hours on Differential Calculus today. It was not from a typo but from a genuine misunderstanding of the concept. I just read through the hints, and I am ready to keep trying. Because it was the 1st problem in a 4-question set, I have at least 7 more problems I’ll need to do.. I wish we did have a restart/reset button for this situation. Oh, and one more thing - that was a multiple choice question, so I couldn’t blame the handwriting interpreter!
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