The Learnvia courseware consists of short, interactive lessons, homework, and self-quizzes. Learnvia’s homework is designed to help students when math becomes a challenge and support them as they work through confusion and master the material, rather than penalize them for not understanding it yet.
In gateway math courses, homework that feels supportive can make a big difference for students. On average, about 30 percent of students in gateway math courses end up with a D, an F, a withdrawal, or an incomplete, and students from underserved populations face disproportionately larger DFWI rates. Homework that focuses on building skills incrementally can help students build the confidence needed to persist through their course.
Learnvia’s mission is to improve student success in the gateway math courses that can open the door to degree completion, STEM pathways, and high-demand careers. One element of that mission is making sure that assignments build confidence and reward persistence, to help students push through the inevitable confusion that is an essential part of learning and to master the material. Here’s how that works in the Learnvia courseware, and what it means for instructors.
Mastery-Based Grading Rewards Persistence
In Learnvia’s homework, students earn points by doing correct work: points are awarded for questions answered correctly and submitted before the deadline. But a wrong answer isn’t final: students get unlimited attempts to get the right answer. That means that students who push through confusion, using hints, explanations, and the AI Tutor along the way, can keep trying until they get it right, and constructive persistence is what leads to earning credit.
If they miss the due date, the assignment doesn’t lock students out – they can continue working on problems for further practice or, potentially, to earn back some credit. Instructors can view how many points each student earned by the due date and points earned afterwards, and can award points based on their own late-work policy.
Tapering Support Builds Confidence
In Learnvia, support tapers gradually across the three task types. In lessons, students get simple problems with full scaffolding and support, including hints and robust help from the AI Tutor.
In homework, there are more difficult problems and fewer supports, but students can request a hint and get nudges from the AI Tutor. The AI Tutor can walk them through each problem in detail, and then the student can try to solve the problem again with new values. Once they get an answer right, they get points.
Self-quizzes are designed to provide practice under conditions similar to an in-class assessment, so they remove the scaffolding altogether. There are no hints, no answers, and no AI Tutor help (beyond encouragement and providing basic definitions) before submitting. After submitting the self-quiz, however , students can compare their answers with the fully-worked solutions, get feedback from the AI Tutor on the mistakes they made, and can then retake the quiz as many times as they like. All assignments are designed to promote a growth mindset, and emphasize the idea that mastering the material is more important than getting it right on the first try.
Instructors Shape How This Fits into the Course
We believe that great teaching plus great courseware gives students the best chance for success. Mastery-based assessment design can make practice feel less punitive, but instructors decide how assignments fit into their course, the pace of learning and due-dates, and how much the platform’s points count toward final grades. Instructors can set a permanent accommodation for a student or grant a one-time extension, a feature built in response to faculty feedback. Learnvia is built for educators, with educators, and shaped by feedback from the instructors and students who use it.
So far, students are noticing the difference. The Learnvia team has heard repeatedly from students that Learnvia doesn’t feel punitive. “I appreciate how with Learnvia there’s no penalty for getting it wrong, and you can keep doing it until you understand it,” said one student at Jackson State University.
