Saturday, August 15, 2015

Triognometry by Varsity Tutors

 I decided to look specifically at an app by Varsity Tutors in detail.  When I looked at it earlier, I was discouraged when the screen to find a tutor came up, I deleted it because I thought it was one you had to subscribe to. .  I hate when I down load an app and it turns out you need to purchase a subscription to use the app but I chose to have a second look at the Trigonometry app to see if you could use any of it without using the tutoring service.

It turns out the answer is Yes!  When you open the app you get the table of contents with Find a Tutor, but there is also, Flashcard Maker, Take a Practice Test, Take a Diagnostic Test, Learn by Concept, Flashcards by Concept, Question of the Day and Tests Taken.

The Flash card maker allows you to create your own flashcards that include a questions, a photo or even audio.  The Flashcards by Concept have flashcards on Angles, Triangles with the law of cosines and sines, right triangles, similar triangles, finding angles and sides of triangles various trigonometric equations, functions, graphs identities and operations. In addition, there are problem set flash cards.

The learn by concepts and practice tests align with the flashcards perfectly.  The learn by concepts presents a question, the answer and the explanation behind the concept.  The practice questions are not a repeat of the concepts page by page so you have to apply what you've learned.

When you take the practice test, the app lets you know if you selected the correct answer or the wrong answer but in either case they actually give an explanation for which is the correct answer and why.  I like that immediate feedback.

There are four diagnostic tests available and the time it usually takes to do the test.  It covers a variety of material in the course so you can pinpoint where a student needs extra help.

Finally, there is a new question of the day for students to do.  It could be on any topic and it gives you immediate feedback and keeps a record on how you do.

I like this app and plan to use it in my math class this fall.

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