How to Set Up and Use the MathByExample Digital Assignments

Information for Teachers about Getting Started with the MathByExample Web Application

JUMP TO:

Set up

Utilizing the Assignments

Viewing and Scoring

SET UP

How to Log In

If you are having trouble logging in, please use the ‘Forgot Password’ option or email info@serpinstitute.org.

Once you log in, you will be brought to your homepage where you can view assignment progress and recent activity. You can then click on ‘teacher dashboard’ at the top or bottom of the page to manage your class, your students, and the assignments.

How to Add or Modify Classes

Note: For teachers whose class rosters were added by SERP, classes and students should represent the rosters given.

Once you’re in your teacher dashboard, you can add classes by clicking ‘create class’. Here, you’ll input the class name, a class ID, and the start and end date. Class IDs are required in order to be able to switch students between classes if needed later on. Once you’ve created your class, you will have access to ByExample assignments for your grade.

If you need to edit information in the class, select the pencil icon next to the class name.

You may edit student names, usernames, or passwords at any point by selecting the blue dot next to the student’s name and selecting “Edit Student” at the top of the page.

Once you’ve added your students, you can return back to the ‘Assignments’ page to assign work to students.

UTILIZING THE ASSIGNMENTS

How to Assign Assignments to Students

On the ‘Assignments’ tab, you will see the list of all the assignments. This is how you will preview, assign, and unassign the assignments for your students. The assignments are organized by unit, so you click on a unit to drop down a list of all assignments within the unit. You may click the assignment to preview and determine if the content aligns with what you’re teaching.

To assign one or more assignments to your students, you simply click the small circle to the left of the assignment name and select ‘assign’ at the top of the page. The assignments don’t have to be completed in order, so assign them in the order that makes the most sense for you and your students.

Once an assignment is assigned to students, it will appear in students’ dashboards. Assigning assignments in one class doesn’t assign the same assignments in all classes, so you’ll need to repeat the process, as needed.

How to Check if Assignments Have Been Completed

You can check on assignment progress in two places. One option is to hover over the bar to the right of the assignment name to see who in that class has not completed that assignment. You can also go to the ‘Students’ tab, click on a student, and view their progress with each assignment.

VIEWING AND SCORING

How to View and Score Completed Assignments

Note: MathByExample was not designed as a resource meant to be carefully reviewed and scored. The scoring functionality is limited, but does provide the opportunity to review student answers and provide feedback and scores, if that is something you would like to include in your practice as you utilize the MathByExample assignments.

Reviewing Work by STUDENT

If you want to review the work of a particular student, you can click on any student to see which assignments have been completed, which assignments are in progress, and which assignments haven't been started yet. You may click on each completed assignment to view the student’s answers.

Reviewing Work by ASSIGNMENT

If you want to review the work by assignment, you can click on any assignment to see which students have completed that assignment, which students are in progress, and which students haven't started yet. You may click on any assignment and have the option to preview the assignment as well as use the dropdown menu on the top left to see students who have completed their assignments and view their work.

Once you are viewing a student’s answers, you’ll see the student’s responses on the left, and the key, or sample responses, on the right. You are able to enter scores and feedback for each question, as well as an overall grade for the assignment. You can provide any type of scoring you’d like, such as numbers or letters, and then enter comments for the student.

Special new FAQ set about the digital assignments:

You may transfer students between your classes. However, the assigned/unassigned assignments will change to those you assigned to that class, so students may experience some lost work in the process, if their new class hasn’t been assigned work that they’ve already started.

At this time, you are able to assign assignments to different classes but not within each class. Should you anticipate wanting to assign different assignments to different groups of students throughout the year, we suggest creating different “classes” for the different groups to make this possible. Again, you can transfer students between these classes, as needed.

Each teacher can create accounts for their students through their teacher dashboard. This is done through a short, simple form. Alternatively, SERP can roster students if information is provided via .csv files. This service is not compatible with single sign-on services, such as Google or Clever, but you could decide to use the same student login information used with other online accounts to ensure students can easily remember their usernames and passwords.

No, student work is not automatically scored. Each assignment has 1-3 questions, as well as a practice problem that can be answered correctly in many different ways. It is up to the teacher to review student answers, explanations, and procedures to determine appropriate scores, should they be considered graded assignments. You could also choose to simply review and discuss work as a class, if a grade is not needed.

Students will need access to a computer or tablet. It is not accessible through phones.

Any other questions?

Ask us! Email info@serpinstitute.org if you have any additional questions, comments, or recommendations!

Development of MathByExample was led by Julie Booth (Temple University) through a SERP collaboration with several school districts. Major contributors to program development include: Kelly McGinn and Laura Young (Temple University), Allie Huyghe, Matthew Ellinger, Emily Schwartz, Avery Jones, and David Dudley (SERP). Special thanks! to the teachers, administrators, and students in our partner districts—Baltimore City Schools, Public Schools of Beloit, Public Schools of Brookline, Fort Madison Community School District, Oak Park Elementary District 97, and Penns Valley Area School District—who were essential to the project’s success, providing feedback at critical points and inviting us into their classrooms along the way!

The collaboration has been supported to conduct this work by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305A150456 to Strategic Education Research Partnership Institute. The information provided does not represent views of the funders.