I don't use quizzes, unit tests and course challenges, but only exercises and mastery challenges. It works fine for me, but something is starting to nag at me. Maybe I'm using Khan academy in a way that its makers would rather I didn't and it's preventing me from learning concepts that can only be learned through, for example, a unit test.
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this.
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Hello frs.veerman. The optimal strategy to use Khan Academy is to go module by module inside any topic. Take for instance 6th grade. The goal is to get 100 %. To do this the best way possible is to first level up to Proficient every possible mastery challenge inside that submodule (take for instance Geometry, inside 6th grade). That will make a 80 % inside that submodule. Then you have to take the mastery unit test to get that 100 % in that submodule. And that will all the sections in each course. Do not try to do the course mastery test or the unit tests without having proficient on all the sections. It won't give you 100 % and you will have again to get 30 questions in a row more than once, which is insane.
It will be difficult but there's no better way that we KA users know of.
Hey AD Baker, do you know the answer to my question?
Hi frs.veerman,
Pablo is correct in saying that the ultimate goal is to achieve 100% mastery in all of the course topics, which can only be obtained by completing the Unit Tests for each unit. That being said, all of the content covered in the unit tests is also covered in the quizzes, so you're not missing any content by only doing the quizzes.
However, if you only do the quizzes, you'll only be able to achieve 80% mastery and might not have as good of an understanding of the topics than if you had done the unit tests as well. Since the Unit Tests cover the entire unit, they're also a good way to make sure that you've fully mastered all of the concepts and how they relate to each other.
I hope this helps! Please let me know if you have any additional questions!
Hi @Evan Lewis,
'Pablo is correct in saying that the ultimate goal is to achieve 100% mastery in all of the course topics, which can only be obtained by completing the Unit Tests for each unit.'
This statement is simply not true i think. I never did any quizzes, unit tests or course challenges but did only 'normal exercises' and mastery challenges as i said in my video. :-)
What i mean by normal exercises:
Doing only normal exercises and mastery challenges i was able to get a 100% score in for example arithmetic.
'.. Since the Unit Tests cover the entire unit, they're also a good way to make sure that you've fully mastered all of the concepts and how they relate to each other.'
This is indeed true, but doing it the way I do is already very time-consuming. I have the feeling that I go through all the material quickly and don't repeat it much, but also not too little. Soon, I think I'll just do the whole unit from beginning to end to see how it feels.
frs.veerman I've watched the video. Great video. Now, the answer is no. You are not skipping any content if you don't do the quizzes. The quizzes are just the same as those basic exercises but concerning more than one topic so to speak. They are intended to level up both exercises (or level down). But yeah, I neither do the quizzes, the exercises are repeated. If you have a 100 % mastery in the course you have a "solid" foundation in that material, trust me. KA is very good.
Now, concerning the "optimal" way to do it, I've seen that you use the "Mastery Challenge" in order to have 100 %. I didn't knew about this option and how is possible that with only 6 questions, you are going to master and entire unit. People do the Unit Test to get Proficient in all those individiual skills. But normally it takes from 9 to 30 exercises correct in a row. Not 6.
So recap. You are not skipping any content the way you are doing the things you're doing. Most of the exercises are repeated or very similar. I don't know how the "Mastery Challenge" works but what most of the KA users do is to complete individual exercises or quizzes and then do the unit test. Keep your routine and you will get far.
Cheers!
Edit: I've just seen the "Mastery Challenges" link you've shared. Is fantastic! I never knew this was possible. I'm going to master things much faster! Only 3-6 questions. Thanks!!
Ah yes, that's a good point! I forgot about the Mastery Challenges... The intended purpose of the Mastery Challenges is to allow you to spiral review skills that you have already practiced. Each Mastery Challenge only covers 3 skills (2 questions per skill) and if you get both questions right then the skill levels up.
Doing this certainly works to master all of the skills in the unit, but the Unit Test might be a more efficient way of doing this. The Mastery Challenges are only available once every 12 hours, whereas the Unit Test you can do as many times as you'd like. The Unit Test should also cover all the skills the unit, versus only 3 skills in the Mastery Challenges.
If you haven't already, I suggest you take a look at the articles on Course Mastery and Mastery Challenges, as these do a better job of fully explaining each of these things.
Thank you for your reactions and I will take the information with me in my rucksack. It is clear that I am not overlooking something very big and that is the important take a way that I wanted.
I think that the more you repeat, the better you master the material and the longer you remember it, and that's why you do want to do the quizzes and unit test. On the other hand, I think that subsequent units often, but not always, build on knowledge gained in other units. And it is precisely that knowledge from the past that you use again and master better plus what is new. I am going to guess that the latter is true and will work for me.
Every day I spend 40 minutes on maths and I notice that if you do 1 mastery challenge you can 100% master all units. That rhythm works perfectly for me.
Thanks again! :-)
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