Measurement of Mathematics Learning Loss in Elementary School Students by Means of the Eduten Platform

Abstract

The article updates the problem of measuring loss and gaps in Ukrainian schoolchildren’s mastery of educational material under martial law. Challenges currently facing domestic education are outlined. The concepts of “learning loss” and “learning gap” are defined. The activity of scientists in supporting the activities of teachers and students in terms of providing a toolkit for determining learning loss of secondary education students and recommendations for overcoming them is characterized. The first experience of the participation of domestic teachers in the international project, within which the digital mathematical platform Eduten is implemented in educational practice, is presented. The platform makes it possible to assess in real time the actual educational capabilities of students in mathematics and to use the obtained results of analytics to help children overcome gaps in the development of specific mathematical abilities and skills. The publication shows how complex diagnostic tests were composed from the materials of the platform, and how the difficulty of the tasks was determined. The results of two stages of the study of learning loss in the formation of students’ mathematical abilities and skills are presented; it is mentioned about the use of the content of the platform to overcome the gaps in the assimilation of the program content. The positive dynamics of changes in the results of students of grades 1–4, who practiced performing tasks on the digital platform, were shown. Significant progress was noted in the achievements of students of the third and fourth grades, which disrupted the intended tendency to decrease of the level of mathematical abilities and skills with each subsequent grade; the thesis of the platform developers that Eduten’s automatic assessment and feedback mechanisms combined with gamification is particularly effective in helping students overcome learning difficulties has been confirmed. It was concluded that the factors that have a positive effect on overcoming learning loss of elementary schoolchildren include the objective determination of gaps in children’s knowledge and skills, purposeful, responsible and instrumentally provided activities of elementary school teachers.