Independent Learning is a self-directed study area within Sparx Maths where students can practice any topic from our extensive content library without needing additional homework to be set by their teacher. This feature allows students to take control of their learning and work on areas they want to improve.
Using Independent Learning
When to use Independent Learning
When to use Independent Learning
We recommend that students:
Complete their personalised homework first
Use Independent Learning for additional practice
Return to topics they want to review further at a later date
How to access Independent Learning
How to access Independent Learning
Students can access Independent Learning at any time by selecting it from the main menu when logged into Sparx Maths.
Finding topics to work on
Finding topics to work on
When in Independent Learning, type one of the following in the 'Search for topics' field:
The name of a topic
A keyword
A topic's topic code. See Sparx Maths topic codes for more information.
Alternatively, you can browse topics by navigating through the strand → sub-strand hierarchy.
Changing curricula and difficulty levels
Changing curricula and difficulty levels
Students can choose both the curriculum and default difficulty level for the questions that they'll work on. You can find more information on homework difficulty levels in Key concepts of a Sparx Maths homework.
Curriculum
When first accessing Independent Learning, the curriculum will match the curriculum set for the student's class (automatically detected based on the curriculum that the class's scheme of learning is built upon).
The student can change curriculum if they want to (for example, a higher-level Key Stage 3 student could choose to practice some GCSE content). To do this, they use the 'Your curriculum' drop-down.
Difficulty level
The initial default difficulty level for questions matches the student's current homework level
Students can adjust the level for individual topics if they find questions too easy or challenging, using the 'Default level' drop-down.
Some topics won't have any questions at higher or lower levels, in which case they may see that there are no questions available to work on (though the student can switch to another level for that topic if they want to).
Introduce, strengthen and deepen questions
Introduce, strengthen and deepen questions
When in a topic, students will see three sets of questions to choose from:
Introduce: key skills for the topic at the student's selected level
Strengthen: questions to consolidate understanding
Deepen: problem-solving type questions designed to challenge
If students find questions too easy or too tricky, they can change the level of each individual topic.
How Independent Learning affects compulsory homework
How Independent Learning affects compulsory homework
If a student completes work in Independent Learning across topics that are subsequently added to their homework, Sparx Maths will consider the student's Independent Learning progress when creating their homework.
For example, if the student confidently answers all of the 'introduce' questions in a topic correctly in Independent Learning, and that topic is later placed into the student's homework, they're more likely to see 'strengthen' content in their homework.
Work that students complete in Independent Learning does not influence their homework difficulty level, nor how much work they receive in their homework.
Times tables practice
Times tables practice
Students can also access times tables practice within Independent Learning. See Times Tables explained for more information.
Personal Practice
Personal Practice
Personal practice is a personalised task for students to complete within Independent Learning. This 10 question task is created using the homework algorithm, and will choose questions based on a number of factors including:
Topics seen in homework, but specific skills they may not have covered yet
Questions they have previously struggled on in homework
Revisiting older topics seen earlier in the academic year.
Students can create these tasks as often as they want to.
They will also see these tasks separately in their activity history, to make it easier to continue should they not complete the task.
How students can view their own progress
Students can monitor their progress through:
Ticks and stars within each topic (tick for completing introduce questions, stars for completing strengthen and deepen questions)
Their "Previous Activity" log showing completed work
The XP that they've earned (20XP per completed task, 150XP per completed personal practice task)
How teachers can monitor student's usage
Via the Hand-in page
Via the Hand-in page
The Hand-in page shows a column, which will contain the time spent by the student, working on independent learning, between the hand out and hand in days for the homework you are viewing.
Please note this does not include time spent practicing times tables within Independent Learning.
Via a student profile
Via a student profile
Going to the students profile, you'll see an activity feed at the bottom of the summary tab
This feed shows each time the student has spent on independent learning, including correct questions and the topics they worked on.
Frequently asked questions
Can students retry questions?
Can students retry questions?
Yes, students are able to retry questions in Independent Learning, for example, they may wish to come back to a topic at a later date and revise it further.
Can a teacher login to Independent Learning?
Can a teacher login to Independent Learning?
It's not currently possible for teachers to login to Independent Learning and experience it from a student point of view.
Does work completed in Independent Learning affect a student's homework level?
Does work completed in Independent Learning affect a student's homework level?
Work completed in Independent Learning doesn't affect student levels in the same way as work completed in homework, as we want to make sure our estimates aren't incorrectly skewed by students choosing to do lots of hard/easy material.
We do however use work done in Independent Learning to help determine how a student has done on a particular topic. For example, if a topic is set in homework that they have already done really well on in Independent Learning, then we might give them more challenging material on that topic straight away.