Practice

Practice creates problems to solve at your current skill level and operation. You can progress through the skill levels by doing well in practice. To get problems to practice, click the Practice button under Activity at the main window.

At the top of the Practice window you see the Operation, Skill Level and Skill Level definition of the problems you will solve during this practice session. On the top right, under Current Status, you get this information:

Problems Assigned: The number of problems you will do during this practice

Problems Completed: The number of problems you answered so far

Problems Correct: The number of problems you answered correctly

Follow these directions to use Practice:

Solve the Problem

In the middle of the screen, under Solve This Problem, is a problem to answer. There is a number bar on the left side of the screen. You can put a number in the answer two ways: 1) Type the number at the keyboard, or 2) Move the arrow over a number on the number bar on the left side of the screen. Click the number you want in the answer. (See How to Put Numbers in Answers)

Check the Problem

When you think you have the right answer, click the Check Problem button. The program tells you if you got the answer right. If you did not answer correctly, the program shows the correct answer. If retries are allowed (see Allow Retries in Setting Preferences) you do not see the correct answer immediately. Instead, a box appears that asks if you want to try again. Click Try Again to answer the same problem. The program shows the correct answer after you reach the number of retries allowed. If you do not want to try again, click Give Up, and the program will show you the correct answer to the problem.

Get Another Problem

Click Another Problem to get your next problem. You keep getting problems until you complete the number of problems assigned.

Finish Practice

Finish the number of problems assigned, to complete practice. If you want to stop Practice before completing the number assigned, click Quit. If you choose Quit, this practice does not affect your skill level.

When you finish, the program shows your practice results. This reports the number of problems assigned, problems completed, problems correct and the percentage correct. This also reports the average time you took to complete each problem. If you selected Allow Retries in Preferences, the results also show you the percentage of problems you solved correctly on the first try.

If you got enough problems correct, you progress to the next level. If you did not get enough problems correct, you return to a lower level. When you complete all the levels in an operation, you advance to the next operation. Each time you complete all the skill levels in an operation, you receive a Certificate of Accomplishment. Click Print to print the certificate. The program saves and records the results of each practice in Reports.

How to Customize Practice

Click Grid On if you want a grid on the screen to help line up the numbers. Click Grid Off if you do not want a grid. You can also change how Practice works by setting Preferences.