In the practice tool, students can access a single question of any of the five interactive question types (multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blank, Parsons, Codelens, or active code), and the answers to previous questions are not available to them.

San Diego State University

Google

1. Underlying Platform
2. Basic Design: Retrieval Practice
3. Interleaving Algorithm
4. Grading System: per Day, not per Question
5. Progress Tracking and Celebration
6. Schedule Information to aid Metacognition

System Design and Development (A Spaced, Interleaved Retrieval Practice Tool that is Motivating and Effective)

The retrieval practice tool was integrated with Runestone Interactive, a platform where instructors can create e-books and provide interactive learning elements. These elements include: (1) multiple-choice questions, (2) fill-in-the-blank questions, (3) Parsons problems for rearranging code blocks, (4) Codelens for visualizing code execution, and (5) active code for writing executable programs. The platform allows students to receive immediate feedback on their answers.

Underlying Platform (A Spaced, Interleaved Retrieval Practice Tool that is Motivating and Effective)

Students could gain 1 point per each day for no more than 45 days  (the duration of course). Students had unlimited attempts to answer the question correctly. At the begginning, students had to answer the same question until they will answer it correctly, then additional feature was added in order to postpone the question. 

Grading System: per Day, not per Question (A Spaced, Interleaved Retrieval Practice Tool that is Motivating and Effective)

To support progress tracking, the tool displays: the number of questions a student must answer to earn the day's point, the number of available questions, the number of practice days needed to reach the maximum points, and the number of remaining days. An animated fireworks effect celebrates completing the daily goal, adding motivation for students.

Progress Tracking and Celebration (A Spaced, Interleaved Retrieval Practice Tool that is Motivating and Effective)

Several students haven't used the tool because they thought that it would be more beneficial for them to practice those questions which were the most difficult for them instead of answering random questions. To solve this issue visualizations were added, displaying the number of days when they would be asked the question from the particular topic again. 

Schedule Information to aid Metacognition (A Spaced, Interleaved Retrieval Practice Tool that is Motivating and Effective)


Every time a student opens the practice tool, a question is loaded automatically. The authors modified the SuperMemo 2 (SM-2) algorithm, which uses the following parameters to update question $$y$$ for student $$x$$:

1. $$i\_interval_{xy}$$: The number of days remaining before asking question $$y$$ to student $$x$$.
2. $$e\_factor_{xy}$$: The easiness factor (E-factor) of question $$y$$ for student $$x$$.
3. $$q_{xy}$$: The response quality score of student $$x$$'s answer to question $$y$$, represented as an integer from 1 to 5.

### Modifications
1. **Topic-level Scheduling**: The algorithm is applied to entire topics instead of single questions, and individual questions within a topic are delivered using round-robin scheduling.
2. **Behavior-Based Response Quality ($$q_{xy}$$)**: In the original SM-2 algorithm, $$q_{xy}$$ is based purely on the correctness of the answer. In this modified tool, the authors calculate $$q_{xy}$$ using three behavioral factors:
   - $$d_{xy}$$: The duration of time student $$x$$ spent answering question $$y$$, measured in minutes.
   - $$t_{xy}$$: The number of attempts student $$x$$ made before submitting their final answer for question $$y$$.
   - $$v_{xy}$$: The number of other textbook pages viewed while answering question $$y$$.

The value of $$q_{xy}$$ is determined as follows:
- (1) $$q_{xy} = 5$$ if $$v_{xy} = 0$$, $$t_{xy} \le 1$$, and $$d_{xy} \le 2$$
- (2) $$q_{xy} = 4$$ if $$t_{xy} \le 2$$ and $$d_{xy} \le 2$$
- (3) $$q_{xy} = 3$$ if $$t_{xy} \le 3$$ and $$d_{xy} \le 3$$
- (4) $$q_{xy} = 2$$ if $$t_{xy} \le 4$$ and $$d_{xy} \le 4$$
- (5) $$q_{xy} = 1$$ if correct, but other conditions are not met
- (6) $$q_{xy} = 0$$ if the final answer is incorrect

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