How do I get access to LearningCurve?

To get access to LearningCurve you simply need an instructor account with Bedford/St. Martin's. If you have an account, go to the LearningCurve site and click to Log In. If you’re not sure if you have an account with Bedford/St. Martin’s, go to the LearningCurve site and click on Instructors – Request Access.

I’ve forgotten my password. How do I get it again?

If you’ve forgotten your password, click Log in and go to the link, “If you’ve forgotten your password, click here.” Follow the instructions to enter your email address and we’ll email you a link to reset your password.

How do I assign a LearningCurve activity?

To assign a LearningCurve activity, click the “Assign” button next to a particular activity. You can select a due date or simply mark the item as “Assigned” for students.

How do I make sure my students see that I’ve assigned a LearningCurve activity?

In order for your students to see your specific instance of LearningCurve (so they can see which activities are assigned and you can see their results), you need to click “Enable Student Registration” and fill in the open fields with the correct course information. This includes course title, section title, instructor name, term, and institution.

When students purchase access or register a Student Access Code, they’ll be asked to select their course information (the same set of information you entered) from a set of drop down menus.

How do I view my students’ scores on a LearningCurve activity?

To view information about students’ work on a LearningCurve activity, click the Report button next to each activity title. First, you’ll see the overall performance of the class; then you can click Student Activity Scores to see information on a particular student. You can see a student’s progress at any time – the reporting will make a note of when the student has completed the activity by reaching the Target Activity Score.

I taught with LearningCurve last semester and I need a new course for next semester. How do I get one?

Log into your LearningCurve site. From the drop down menu at the top of the page (your name should be visible), select the option to Create a new course.

Once a new course is created, you can assign the activities you’d like your students to complete. When your course is ready, click the Enable Student Registration button to specify the course information that your students will see when they register.

How do I get help logging on and getting answers to my other technical questions?

Contact Tech Support at techsupport@bfwpub.com or1-800-936-6899, if you have any questions or technical issues about LearningCurve.

One or more of my students have bought used books with expired Student Access Codes. How can they access LearningCurve?

Your students can purchase access to LearningCurve directly from the LearningCurve website by clicking on the “Purchase Access” button on the right.

One of my students is having trouble registering his/her LearningCurve Student Access Code. What should s/he do?

Ask your students to make sure they are entering all the characters correctly. If they continue to have problems, have them contact Tech Support at 1-800-936-6899 or techsupport@bfwpub.com.

What if my students have trouble logging in?

Your students can contact our Technical Support team through e-mail at techsupport@bfwpub.com or by phone at 1-800-936-6899.

What are the minimum system requirements for LearningCurve?

Mac OS 10.2+

Safari 1.2+

Firefox 1.0.7+
For best results, make sure you use a supported platform and browser when accessing LearningCurve.

How long can my students access LearningCurve?

Students have access to LearningCurve for one year.

If a student drops my course, can they get a refund?

If a student purchased access online and drops the course, s/he can contact Tech Support (within 2 weeks of purchasing access) to get a refund. Tech Support can be reached by email at techsupport@bfwpub.com or by phone at 1-800-936-6899. S/he can then re-purchase access when s/he takes the course later. If the student purchased LearningCurve with a new book at your campus bookstore, s/he will need to contact the bookstore about a refund. Please note that if the student has already registered the Student Access Code, s/he will not be eligible for a refund.

How can I make an activity easier or harder for my students to complete?

You can change the Target Activity Score by clicking the "Change Target Score" button on the activity start screen. The higher the Target Activity Score, the more questions students will need to answer in order to complete the activity.

How are multiple choice questions delivered to students?

Multiple choice questions are shown with the choices scrambled (except for questions in which scrambling doesn't make sense). As soon as students click on an answer choice, they receive feedback for that choice (there is no "Submit Answer" button). They can keep guessing, click a button to get a hint, click a link to review an explanation of the topic, or click a button ("Show Me") to simply see the answer (no points are awarded if the "Show Me" button is clicked).

How do students complete a LearningCurve activity?

Students complete a LearningCurve activity by answering questions correctly and scoring the necessary amount of points to reach the designated Target Score. Harder questions are worth more points than easier questions, and they earn fewer points on a given question if they access more hints or make more incorrect guesses before answering the question correctly.

Can students ever lose points that they’ve already earned in the activity?

No, they cannot. Unlike a traditional quiz, LearningCurve does not penalize students for answering a question incorrectly. The number of questions in the activity isn’t set, so the number of total points a student can earn does not decrease if he or she gets a question wrong. If a student guesses incorrectly, asks for hints, or even gives up, he or she will just need to answer more questions in order to reach the Target Score.

Is there any penalty for guessing incorrectly on a question?

Students do not lose points they've already earned when they guess incorrectly, but each incorrect guess on a multiple choice question reduces the number of points the student can earn on that question by 65%. For example, for a question initially worth 25 points, a student would receive 9 points (rounded up from 8.75) for answering the question correctly after first guessing incorrectly. A correct answer after two incorrect guesses would give the student 3 points (rounded down from 3.06).

Can students continue to work on a LearningCurve activity after completing the activity and/or after the activity’s due date has passed?

Yes, students can continue to answer questions in the activity, even after they have completed the activity or after the due date has passed. In fact, they are encouraged to do so to keep reviewing the material! They can leave and return to the activity at any time they wish (e.g. to review before a midterm or final exam).

What types of questions are included in LearningCurve activities?

All LearningCurve activities are multiple choice. Click on any answer to select it. If the choice is incorrect, they can guess again, click a button to get a hint, or click “Show Me” to simply see the answer. No points are awarded if the “Show Me” button is clicked.

How is feedback given for LearningCurve questions?

The initial point value for each question is determined by its level (harder questions are worth more than easier questions).

How many points is each question worth?

Students receive immediate feedback as soon as they attempt to answer each LearningCurve question. If they guess incorrectly on a multiple choice question, they're usually given feedback on why the answer they chose is incorrect.

What are hints in LearningCurve?

Hints either provide students with quick tips to help them answer a question or remove incorrect choices one at a time, telling students each time why each removed answer is incorrect.

What happens when students access a hint on a question?

When students ask for a hint, they do not lose any points that they’ve already earned. However, the number of points they can earn for that particular question is reduced by 60%.

Can students consult course materials while completing a LearningCurve activity?

Yes! A link above every question connects students to their textbook for help with the question.

How is the Topic Score calculated?

The Topic Score is calculated as the total number of points students have earned from questions on that topic, divided by the total number of points they could have earned, had they gotten every question correct without hints or incorrect guesses. Every LearningCurve activity is designed to cover a certain set of topics; typically 3-5 topics will be covered in each activity.

How is the Target Score calculated?

The default Target Score is calculated such that a student who answers every question correctly right away, will have to answer about 5 questions for each topic covered in the activity (thus, for an activity that covers 4 topics, this means a minimum of 20 questions answered). Most students will not answer every question perfectly, so it would not be unusual for a student to have to answer twice this many questions or even more—and by attempting to answer the questions and getting immediate feedback, the student learns.

How can I use Class Topic Performance Reports for just-in-time teaching purposes?

A "Class Topic Performance Report" is on the start screen of each LearningCurve activity, showing the average Topic Scores across all students who have begun the activity. You can use this report to manage class time, spending more time on topics your students are finding more challenging. This works especially well if you assign LearningCurve activities to be due just before classes begin; doing so increases the likelihood that students will have reviewed the relevant concepts before they come to class.

How can students use their Topic Scores and Personalized Study Plans to better prepare themselves for quizzes and exams?

Students can use LearningCurve to determine what they know and don’t know about the concepts covered in each activity. To help organize subsequent review, students can view their Personalized Study Plan (PSP) at any time by clicking on the progress bar that appears below each question. The PSP shows their Topic Scores, ordered from lowest to highest. Clicking on each topic label reveals reference materials and/or other activities related to that topic.

Remember: students can always access their PSP between questions by clicking the “Take a Break” button, or from the activity start screen if they leave the activity and return to it later.

Is question selection adaptive in any other way?

Question selection also adapts to the difficulty level students have shown they can handle. Questions from each topic are divided into levels. If a student gets a question correct without hints, the next question for that topic will come from the next most difficult level (unless s/he is already answering the most difficult questions). If the student has to show the answer to the question, makes more than one incorrect guess, or accesses more than one hint, the next question for that topic will come from the next easiest level (unless s/he is already answering the easiest questions). And if the student takes exactly one incorrect guess, or exactly one hint, but then gets the question correct, the next question for that topic will come from the same level.

Are there any mechanisms in place to stop students from cheating on LearningCurve activities?

Yes. First, questions are delivered to each student in a different, random order. Second, answers for multiple choice questions are scrambled (except in rare cases where the question dictates that choices are shown in a certain set order). Third, one relatively sophisticated way a student might try to cheat is to quickly click the first, then the second, then the third choice for each multiple choice question, until she gets the question correct. Although s/he won't receive many points for every question, s/he will receive some points, and s/he will eventually reach the target score. To prevent this behavior, students are penalized if they answer the questions too quickly; the potential total points available for questions is reduced by a factor of 30% (i.e. if the next question would normally be worth 20 points, it will only be worth 14 points after this penalty has been applied). Subsequent quick, incorrect responses increase the penalty for later questions; correct and/or slower responses reduce the penalty.

Do students have their own FAQ page?

Yes, students can access their own FAQ page here.