For many math teachers, time spent planning or preparing lessons, grading, and giving feedback can easily eat up a day’s work. Kuta Software, which bills itself as a “no fluff and no jargon test and worksheet generator for math teachers,” is the perfect tool to help alleviate this burden.
In seconds, the software can generate an infinite number (or at least all possible unique versions) of a question for a given math topic. The math subjects covered span various high-school math subjects from pre-Algebra to Calculus. They also align with the Common Core Curriculum.
These features make Kuta Software perfect for generating custom homework assignments, quizzes, and tests on the fly. Additionally, the software can generate practice questions perfect for any standardized math test.
Kuta Software offers various features that math teachers will love. It’s more than just a great question bank. Below are the seven reasons why math teachers will love the software.
1. Kuta Has An Easy-to-Use User Interface
The user interface of the software is quite intuitive from the get-go. A free 14-day trial allows you to quickly test the software without hassle (minus the feature to print-to-pdf). The software supports both Mac and PC desktop versions.
Upon downloading, users can easily and immediately start customizing the header with the teacher’s name, period, title, or assignment version.
Instantly generate questions by clicking on the list of topics provided. Everything is visualized, so you can see the results of your work and selection immediately without needing to wait for questions to generate
2. Ability to Customize and Generate Infinite Question Variations
Don’t like a specific question? Click on the space bar to generate a new version. Want to generate an entirely new group of questions and topics? Go back to the menu and generate more.
Want to give students more room to show their work? Quickly condense or expand questions to fit however you like. You can also specify if the answers are multiple-choice, free-response, or graph-based.
The non-trial version also allows you to manually edit the questions to modify the auto-generated questions to your liking. Though more tedious, the software also offers the ability to generate custom questions from scratch.
However, with the ability to generate an infinite number (or at least all possible versions) of a question, you’ll unlikely need to write your own questions.
3. Ability to Scale or Combine Assignments
One of the great features of the software is the ability to scale a limited set of questions and topics into a larger assignment that can be given later to the students as a take-home worksheet or a test or quiz.
For example, say you wanted to cover one to two sample questions in class. You can generate two example questions for the classroom and quickly scale a take-home assignment with as many additional questions to reinforce the topic covered in class.
You can also combine all assignments during the course term to easily generate tests and quizzes based on exactly what you have taught.
4. Version Control
The ability to version control assignments is a great way to prevent cheating or copying. Once you create a worksheet, you can also ask the software to generate as many versions and answers as there are students.
The print-to-pdf feature allows you to print all versions of the assignments and answers so that each student has a unique worksheet, and you have the unique answer key.
Image: Diagrams and angles generated are accurate.
5. Accurate Diagrams and Graphing Feature
All figures and diagrams in the software are drawn to scale and accurately unless the answer is given away.
For example, angles labeled 30 degrees are true 30-degree angles. Triangles are also depicted with the correct ratios to help students gain better intuitions from the diagram.
Another great tool is the ability to generate high-quality graphs and graph paper to print and supplement lessons. Graphs can have up to 2 functions and can be any size.
6. Diverse Topics Covered that Align With Common Core Curriculum
The Kuta Software is actually multiple software products divided into specific subjects: Pre-algebra, Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Precalculus, and Calculus. The great thing is that these subjects cover an entire high school standard math curriculum.
Topics covered in each subject align with the majority of the Common Core Curriculum, making it easier to develop lesson plans according to the standardized rubrics.
7. Kuta Works
With the pandemic digitizing so much of the classroom, teachers also have the option to purchase Kuta Works, an additional software package that allows for posting assignments directly online.
Students can complete the assignment online, with results, time spent, and student-flagged questions tracked and reported to you.
The software package also includes an auto-grader, which saves time by reporting the number and percent correct automatically, as well as time spent by the student doing the assignment.
The Kuta Works add-on software also allows the ability to clone previous courses. Upcoming features include the ability to clone standard courses as the basis of your own or draw questions from a standard assignment bank.
Pricing
For the latest details on pricing and more complicated campus licensing, refer to the software’s pricing page. As of this writing, a standard single-use license for one program (or subject) costs $135. All six available math subjects cost $625.
Cons
- The presentation mode is quite limited. It would be nice if there were the ability to mark up the questions in presentation mode. However, users will have to export the PDF to another software to mark up the assignments for classroom instruction.
- Custom questions can be difficult to make. While it’s quite easy to auto-generate questions, manually editing the auto-generated questions is quite tedious and may take a bit of a learning curve.
- The questions generated are very standardized, though difficulty levels from easy, medium, to hard can be selected. If you’re the type of teacher that likes to tease students with challenging questions, the tool may be better as a supplemental question generator. Exporting questions to bitmap allows you to copy/paste and incorporate Kuta questions into your assignments.
Final Thoughts
Overall, Kuta is a great math worksheet, quiz, test, and question generator tool for math teachers. The software is no-frills but very capable and intuitive.
The range of features offered can save time and make lesson planning easier.
With its ability to generate infinite question variations and version control, the software is a valuable resource for math teachers looking to streamline their workflow.
Additionally, the software’s accurate diagrams and graphing feature, support for multiple math subjects, and compatibility with the Common Core Curriculum make it a comprehensive tool for teaching math at various levels.
Overall, Kuta Software is a highly-rated resource that is well worth considering for any math teacher looking to simplify their workload.