This article covers common issues that students might encounter with Sparx Maths homework and provides solutions to resolve them.
Why can my student not see the homework I set?
Why can my student not see the homework I set?
There are several reasons why homework might not be visible to students:
Student recently added to class: If the student was added to the class since the hand-out date, they will not see the current homework, and will not appear in the Hand-In page yet. However, they will receive the next homework that is handed out.
Homework set too recently: It can take up to 10 minutes after the hand-out time for homework to appear
Homework set too long ago: Tasks remain visible to students for 48 days after the hand-out date. After this time, the homework will disappear from the student's task list and they will not be able to access the questions.
Why is the information on my student's homework different to the information on my Sparx site?
Why is the information on my student's homework different to the information on my Sparx site?
If a student shows you homework information that doesn't match what you see in your Sparx site, ask them to log in again in front of you or refresh their page.
Most browsers include an inspect element tool which allows users to make temporary visual changes to webpages. Please see this video for a demonstration of how students can use this to edit the appearance of their homework.
Why are students in the same class getting different homework topics?
Why are students in the same class getting different homework topics?
Each week, when a homework topic is added to the Planner, the student’s level and past activity is taken into account to create bespoke homework made up of questions at the right level.
Pre-requisite topics: If a student is deemed not ready for a topic that is set, they may be set a pre-requisite topic that covers the skills they need before they can move on to the current topic
Too many topics set: If more than 2-3 topics are set for a 60 min homework, there is a possibility of some students not seeing all of the topics. This may differ between students as Sparx personalises homework based on working speed, so students with a lower working speed will be set a shorter homework.
Mixed topic practice: This is a task that contains questions from two or more topics intentionally interleaved with each other to challenge the student by 'context switching'. This type of task is generally set for students who are confident with the "Introduce" questions of a topic. If you hover your mouse over the Mixed Topic Practice heading on the hand-in page, it will show you what topics are included.
Why does the homework show as "cancelled" on the student's task list?
Why does the homework show as "cancelled" on the student's task list?
If a homework has been changed to Optional Only after being set, the task will then show as "cancelled" and students will no longer be able to access the questions. However, the XP Boost and Target parts of the homework will still be accessible.
A student says the homework they completed has disappeared and now says incomplete
A student says the homework they completed has disappeared and now says incomplete
We understand how worrying it can be when students report issues like this, but we would like to reassure you that the information shown in your Sparx Teacher site is an accurate record of a student’s completed work in Sparx Maths.
All answers and progress are saved automatically as students work through their tasks. Completed questions and homework do not reset, disappear, or get lost once completed. Unless we have identified and communicated a wider technical issue affecting students, you can have full confidence in the data shown in the Teacher site.
It can be helpful to click through some of the student’s more recent homework tasks to see if there has been any recent activity recorded in their timeline – this may show that they have worked on an older task or Independent Learning by mistake.
If helpful, you may wish to ask the student to show their completed bookwork or workings for the task, as this can sometimes help to clarify where any misunderstanding may have arisen.