Quest Learning & Assessment is a non-profit organization at the University of Texas at Austin College of Natural Sciences maintaining a web-based tool for instructors and students of mathematics and science. Originally created as the UT Physics Homework Service as early as 1991, the system was updated and moved to the College of Natural Sciences in 2002 to provide service to the broader array of STEM courses. It is being used at over 1,000 U.S. institutions; high schools as well as 2-yr/4-yr colleges and universities.
Questions and Assignments
Instructors can create homework, quizzes and exams from a large pool (over 75,000) of Mathematics, Physics, Biology, Chemistry, Physical Sciences and Computer Science questions. Most questions have built-in variations, so Quest can create custom assignments for each student. Students get immediate feedback when answering questions and can view step-by-step solutions after the assignment due date has passed.
Grading system
The default grading system uses a "guessing neutral" system similar to the SAT grading scheme. Instructors also have the ability to set the grading system to an "item neutral" scale where points are not deducted from the assignment for failed questions. If a student gets an answer correct they are awarded points, however points are subtracted for incorrect answers to discourage guessing in both of these models. Additionally, instructors can use "One Free Try" grading in order to encourage students to re-try a question before being penalized.
References
External links
- Official Quest site
- How to subscribe to Quest
- Official Quest Documentation