Q: What is a comprehensive assessment?
A: Mathnasium's comprehensive assessment is a risk-free evaluation that includes a verbal and written proficiency test given to students who are interested in enrolling at our center. It gives an overall picture of where the student's math sense is at, and where our program needs to meet the student to best benefit their understanding of math concepts moving forward.
Q: What things do you learn about a student when they take a comprehensive assessment?
A: The comprehensive assessment gives us important information needed to create a customized individual learning plan for each student. The assessment identifies a student's strengths and weaknesses of math skills across a specific level, and the instructor is able to build a learning plan that focuses on specific concepts and strategies that provides initial instruction, review and retention that will most benefit the student's learning at that stage.
Q: What is a customized learning plan?
A: Since each student comes into Mathnasium with their own strengths and weaknesses of math skills, the customized learning plan is what sets Mathnasium apart from traditional tutoring. At Mathnasium, we are able to pick specific math skills the students show having a gap in, and create a plan that helps "fill the gap" so that as they encounter more complex math concepts, they have a better understanding of how all the math comes together. For example, it is not unusual for students to have memorized their multiplication facts, but when it comes to long division, they get frustrated because the concept of how many times a number "fits" into another number is more complex. At Mathnasium, we can build a learning plan to specifically address prerequisite multiplication and division skills that will build up on how to approach long division in a "math sense" way. One of our favorites is the Divisibility Rules, a fun way to recognize if a large number can be divided by a specific number based on proven "rules" that always work out to the correct answer. For example, a number can be divided by 3 if the sum of the numbers equals a number divisible by 3, like this: Is 732 divisible by 3? 7+3+2=12, so the answer is yes, because 12 is divisible by 3. And for a Bonus Point, is it composite or prime? Tell us how you know ;-)
Q: How do you gauge progress?
A: We love when a student has mastered a concept at Mathnasium. We are able to evaluate when a student has reached mastery using a combination of indicators. First is through the 1:1 instruction time. When an instructor is reviewing a skill or concept with a student, they use socractic questioning to see if a student can explain how they got their answer. If a student can not only explain how they arrived at the correct answer but can also relate it back to something relevant in their own experience, then the student has achieved metacognition, which is a form of mastery. Second is through the Mastery Checks that are given at the culmination of a specific concept that was assigned within their learning plan. The Mastery Check is like a mini-quiz on a specific set of skills that the student has just completed. When a student gets 100% of the answers correct, this gives us the quantitative proof that the student has mastered a specific skill set. Together with the socratic questioning and the Mastery Check, when both indicate a student has displayed mastery, instructors know it is the right time to move them on to the next level of learning.
(435) 272-4994
