MyTest vs Smart Revise

Discussion in 'General study / exams' started by d.j.collins, Nov 19, 2013.

  1. d.j.collins

    d.j.collins Member

    Hi,

    In the past I have used Smart Revise for CA1, ST2 & ST5, and have always found it a very useful revision aid. However, this time I notice that it has been replaced with MyTest; which I have ordered for SA2.

    It may be early days in terms of me using MyTest, but there are certainly some features of Smart Revise that I am missing. These include:
    • The ability to study questions from particular individual chapters, rather than having to look at questions from a full part of the course in one go. I used to like revising a chapter on Smart Revise straight after I finished a chapter of the notes; to help cement the content.
    • How Smart Revise used to suggest how many questions you should undertake in a revision session, as I found this gave me a good idea of the pace of revision I should be doing.
    • When you got a question wrong, Smart Revise would put the question to the "back of the pack" and re-ask it once it had gone through all the other questions. This way it made you actively re-visit the questions you got wrong until you get it right. MyTest, on the other hand, just marks the question as wrong and that is that.
    • The ability to mark my answer to a question as a "maybe" right rather than a straight "yes" it was right or "no" it was wrong. I found this particularly useful for wordy answers where you get the general idea but feel as though you didn't get it completely correct.

    Given these differences in the two revision aids, I was just wondering why it was decided to replace Smart Revise with MyTest for the later, wordier subjects?

    Thanks.
     
    d.j.collins, Nov 19, 2013
    #1
  2. David Wilmot

    David Wilmot ActEd Tutor Staff Member

    I’m sorry to hear that you're missing some aspects of SmartRevise. However, there are features in MyTest that didn't exist in Smart Revise. In particular, MyTest questions can include equations, charts, tables, and diagrams and this opens up a variety of new question types that were not possible in Smart Revise. We haven’t yet fully utilised all these new features, but plan to do so in the future.

    We will be able to improve MyTest much more easily that was possible for SmartRevise because it has been developed By ActEd, rather than a third party. This is one of the main reasons we have replaced SmartRevise with MyTest.

    If you get a question wrong, MyTest does remember this fact and it then prioritises this particular question in future sessions (unlike SmartRevise, which repeated the question in the current session). In this way, the system learns what you are findiing difficult and biases future sessions towards these topics - until you get them right!

    We will certainly consider including the “Maybe” option in future releases of the program.

    You clearly miss the fact that SmartRevise suggested a number of questions to attempt. However, I know that other students found this frustrating at times. For example, having not done any SmartRevise during a week, the system might suggest a huge number of questions, say 30, which could be demotivating.

    As MyTest is still being developed and improved we really do like to hear feedback, whether positive or constructively critical. Future versions of MyTest might well end up including the kinds of functionality that you have highlighted. If you, or any other forum contributors would like to make (further/alternative) suggestions as to how MyTest could be improved we would love to hear them!

    Thanks again for your constructive and useful feedback.
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2013
    David Wilmot, Nov 20, 2013
    #2
  3. d.j.collins

    d.j.collins Member

    Thanks for that insight. It is certainly interesting to see the thinking behind developments.

    As you pointed out, different people prefer different things. So some of the aspects of Smart Revise that I miss another student might be really happy to see the back of!

    It would certainly be interesting to see what other students thoughts are on these two products.

    I will certainly be continuing to use the MyTest product (I used to swear by Smart Revise). I just guess that it will take me a bit to get used to the new set-up, but once I'm 'up and running' I'm sure it will work well.

    Thanks again for the reply.
     
    d.j.collins, Nov 21, 2013
    #3
  4. limamichelle

    limamichelle Active Member

    Hi,
    I also am a former user of smart revise and i found it very useful, the most useful part incidentally was that

    "When you got a question wrong, Smart Revise would put the question to the "back of the pack" and re-ask it once it had gone through all the other questions. This way it made you actively re-visit the questions you got wrong until you get it right. MyTest, on the other hand, just marks the question as wrong and that is that."

    and second in line for usefulness:
    The ability to study questions from particular individual chapters, rather than having to look at questions from a full part of the course in one go. I used to like revising a chapter on Smart Revise straight after I finished a chapter of the notes; to help cement the content.

    In fact i also liked the user interface of smart revise- But i can let that Go. Especially if the two things above can be Incorporated!
     
    limamichelle, Nov 27, 2013
    #4
  5. David Wilmot

    David Wilmot ActEd Tutor Staff Member

    MyTest development

    Thanks for the additional comments limamichelle.

    With regard to your first point, can I re-emphasise that "If you get a question wrong, MyTest does remember this fact and it then prioritises this particular question in future sessions (unlike SmartRevise, which repeated the question in the current session). In this way, the system learns what you are findiing difficult and biases future sessions towards these topics - until you get them right!"

    As to your second point, we'll certainly look at adjusting MyTest to enable questions to be drawn from Chapters rather than Parts.

    Thanks again for the positive feedback and constructive suggestions.
     
    David Wilmot, Dec 20, 2013
    #5
  6. jfitz

    jfitz Member

    How to use MyTest

    David

    Apologies if I'm asking a question answered on the main site but how frequently should MyTest be used e.g. would you recommend using it daily or once a week?

    Thanks
     
    jfitz, Jan 8, 2014
    #6
  7. David Wilmot

    David Wilmot ActEd Tutor Staff Member

    Hi jfitz,

    I'd be interested to hear other students' opinions on this...

    Of course, what is optimal will vary from individual to individual, but I would have thought weekly was a reasonable benchmark. The aim is of MyTest is to help you identify weak areas and to rehearse the bookwork frequently so that it is securely memorised by the time of the exam. (I think daily use might cause 'burn out'!)
     
    David Wilmot, Jan 8, 2014
    #7
  8. d.j.collins

    d.j.collins Member

    From past experience, I would probably do a test once or twice a week at this point of my study.

    Once I finish a course (so maybe March time) I would then aim to do a test probably three times a week to really help cement the bookwork knowledge.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 9, 2014
    d.j.collins, Jan 9, 2014
    #8

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