Alternative for the Much-Requested Reset Test Feature

I am posting this in the topic Classroom Product Questions and Feedback because that is where the "Reset Unit Tests" discussion is located. Normally, I would have posted it in Feature Requests and General Site Feedback.

This is long, so here is an executive summary, TL;DR (too long; didn't read), precis, abstract, or whatever you call it:

My suggestion is to give the option of having a question added to the end of a test that tests the same skill of a problem/question that was missed. This would extend the test by one question. Getting the question added to the end correct would be the same as getting it correct the first time. I also give some suggestions on how to make it work.

Here's the whole thing:

I have thought of a new approach to handling the request to reset practices/quizzes/tests/challenges. A few months ago, I was doing a practice exercise with four questions. I made a stupid mistake on the third question. I forgot the minus sign for a negative number. (I had recently started doing Physics, and the question involved a downward velocity, where the value is negative. I was still getting used to this.)

What I found myself wishing for was the opportunity to get the practice exercise extended by one question, covering the same type of material as the question I got incorrect. I would have a five-question practice instead of a four-question one, but that would be okay. If I got all of the other questions correct, then I would have the 80% mastery I would have had if I had gotten all four of the original questions correct.

I've thought about how this could be implemented. First, I want to say that this is similar to a mastery system that Khan Academy used about four years ago when I first discovered the site (but more than two years before I started using it seriously). This was a system in which someone had to get a certain number of problems/questions in a row correct. I've seen complaints here in the Support Community about how some people, especially children and teenagers, were stressed out by this method. My idea is similar to this, but it doesn't make the attainment of the highest level of mastery awarded by this practice, quiz, or test dependent on getting a certain number of consecutive problems/questions correct. If I got question 3 of a 4-question exercise wrong but got the other questions, including the extra one added at the end, correct, I would have only had to get two in a row (the last two, and, for that matter, the first two) correct.

For a 9-question Unit Test, if I missed, say, question 5 but got 1-4 and 6-9 correct and then requested the extra one at the end, I would have only needed to get five in a row (6-9 plus the extra one) correct.

Some options and limitations I suggest:

1. This would be optional. If test-takers think they could really use more studying time, they could decline the extra question. Of course, upon a retake of the exercise, quiz, test, or course challenge, they would get the whole thing over again. Also, once this option is declined for a particular problem in a particular exercise/quiz/test/course challenge, it would not be able to be restored.

2. Consideration should also be given to preventing a student from using this. Parents, teachers, or coaches could prevent students from using this feature. However, adult learners should be able to choose on their own to allow it.

3. If implemented, this must be made available on the apps on the same day it is made available on the web site.

4. This can only be done once per original question. If the extra question is also missed, there will not be an option for another one. (My suggestion; it can be made more liberal if desired.)

5. However, this can be used for multiple questions in the same administration of an exercise, quiz, test, or course challenge.

6. For the exams that test multiple skills - Unit Quizzes, Unit Tests, and Course Challenges - the additional question will be for the same skill as the missed question. It is quite frustrating to take a 23-question Unit Test in a subject with 29 skills, miss one of the questions, then take the 23-question Unit Test again, and not get tested on the skill missed in the last test!

7. For practice exercises, the additional question will be for the same problem-solving approach as the missed question.

8. The new question will not be the same question that was missed unless there are no more for that skill. This last clause is just to cover the situation in Multivariable Calculus, where there are only two practice exercises as of now, and every time they are attempted, the same questions in each one come up.