What a practice session looks like
These pages are available in English and Italian; the application itself is currently in English.
This page describes what a child actually sees between starting a test and reading the results.
The clock starts with the test
The time limit chosen in the settings becomes a countdown for the whole test, not for the individual question. As a child's arithmetic improves, you can raise the number of questions to be solved in the same time, or make the questions harder.
One question at a time
Questions appear one after another. Answers are given on a keypad suited to the exercise type — whole numbers, a numerator and denominator for fractions, a comma or point for decimals — or by choosing from several options, if that mode was selected.
The number of options in multiple-choice mode is configurable, and the wrong answers are designed so that spotting the single right one is not trivial at a glance. More options naturally means a wider spread of answers to pick the correct one from.
The results screen
At the end MathButFun shows the score as correct answers out of the total, and the accuracy as a percentage of the test.
Below that, each question is listed individually with the answer given, the correct one and the time taken.
- Correct — the answer matches.
- Wrong — an answer was given that does not match; the right one is shown beside it.
- Not answered — the question was reached but left empty, or the time ran out.
- Not simplified — fractions only: the arithmetic is right, but not reduced to lowest terms. Counted as correct, flagged in amber.
The time spent on each question
The time taken on each question is as informative as the score for judging how comfortable a child has become with particular kinds of arithmetic.
What is kept afterwards
For a registered user the result is saved, and feeds the statistics and progression shown in the application. For a guest, the results screen is where it ends.
Does the results screen show the correct answers?
Yes. Every question is listed with the answer given and, beside it, the correct one.
Is the time for each individual question recorded?
Yes. The results screen shows how long was spent on each question, as well as the overall score and accuracy.
Does MathButFun explain how to reach the answer?
No. MathButFun says whether the answer was right and what the correct one was. It does not produce step-by-step explanations.