I agree.  I've wasted more time redoing tests than learning.  It's counter productive to have to be forced to go through a test over and over just because of a miss click.

If you consider it practice, it is not a waste of time.  If you are getting questions wrong, clearly you need the practice.

Hi sarahsou586,

Thank you for sharing your feedback!

Unfortunately, adding a reset button for unit tests and quizzes is not something that Khan Academy will be implementing, since it does not encourage a growth mindset. For more information on this decision, please see this post: https://support.khanacademy.org/hc/en-us/community/posts/115001114611/comments/360008519352

I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help! Please let me know if you have any additional questions or feedback!

Seems like there is an underlying flawed assumption here; that if a kid is restarting, it's because they're trying to game the system. Some kids might be, but many kids will run into issues with the interface. At the very least, if a kid gets it wrong give them another of the same type of question, giving them a chance to redeem themselves and demonstrate that they do actually understand. Math is frustrating enough for kids for you to pile on additional frustrations; some of which are due to the Kahn academy interface or a poorly phrased question, and nothing to do with the kid. Forcing completing the entire test feels a bit punative, and a waste of time.

@Nathan: I can't speak for Evan, but, to me, the current Khan process seems like what would happen in school.  When you get answers wrong on a quiz or a test, you get a grade of less than 100%.  I don't know of too many teachers who give a re-test on only the questions a student got wrong (if any re-test is given at all).  What Khan does seems to fit that pedagogy.

On the off chance that you think of it as training, it's anything but an exercise in futility. On the off chance that you are misunderstanding questions, obviously you need the training.

As a teacher, I don't want a student to restart.  If they have a problem with the interface, I know prior to them starting a test.  If they make a typo either in copying the problem or typing the answer, it teaches them to check better next time.  If they didn't understand, then extra practice on the other elements in the unit won't hurt and may help.  True mastery means being able to get every problem right, every time.  That's my goal for my students, so that they have the foundation to be able to easily move on to other topics without feeling lost.

Also, the process of getting a problem wrong and struggling through to find a solution, then redoing it and achieving success is beneficial both in the way the brain grows and learns and also in the way that students approach difficulties in school and life in their future.  Someone who is allowed to constantly restart doesn't learn to accept a result, evaluate what went wrong, then refine their process and/or understanding before trying again.  This is the core of stem learning: try it, evaluate what can be better, refine it, try again.

@AD Breaker On real tests, you can check ALL of your anwsers before submitting. If you accidently press enter on khan academy it locks you out of getting it correct if you entered the wrong anwser

You are correct.  On a real test, in a real school, with a real teacher, you can check all of your answers before submitting.

Khan Academy .is not a real school.  It is a learning aid.  If a student needs the practice afforded by a learning aid, it stands to reason that the additional practice of repeating exercises would be helpful.

It depends on the type of test.

I’ve done several scaled tests with students. I give one problem at a time, each on a separate sheet of paper, and they continue to get new problems until they get a predetermined number wrong (usually one or three). Difficulty increases with each problem, so I know immediately where a student is and where to start working with them. Mastery means being able to understand the process, do a problem and then explain how and why it was done that way.

When students have mastered the content on KA quizzes and tests, I usually challenge them with harder content. KA is great for an introduction and the basics, but it’s not set up (anymore) to feed problems of increasing difficulty. The web (RIP!) for WoM allowed a child to easily understand how each step built towards the next; with the current fascination with grade level, kids are less able to understand how the units from the previous year build towards the current year, which then build towards subsequent years.

Hi everyone,

I have some great news to share with you!

Based on the feedback you and many others shared, Khan Academy has launched a new feature that allows learners to start over an activity without needing to fully complete it first— it’s called the “Start Over” link! 

We hope you will enjoy this new feature, and welcome any feedback you have about it. Passion from the Khan Academy community helped bring this feature to life, and we truly thank you for sharing your thoughts about it. You helped make Khan Academy a better learning resource for everyone!

For more information about the “Start Over” link, please check out our Community announcement.

Thanks again, and happy learning!

Kind regards,