Many of the log files you will get will be from the "problem-logs" table where each row represents a single problem of each student. There will be extra information like the number of hints used for the problem or the time it took for a student to make their first response (called "first_response_time" in the table below). Problem_log_id refers to the unique row in the table base. We will sometime "join" into this file other stuff that is at the student or assignment level, so those would be duplicated (user id and sequences id would be duplicated).
Professor Neil Heffernan has documented with videos what many of these fields mean. If you run your own experiment, there is a second set of descriptions of some of these fields in the files we give out that could be helpful.
user_id
The ID of the student doing the problem.
We have a set of features that tell researchers something about how students did prior to starting the problem set of interest.
prior_problem_count
The number of problems the student had completed in ASSISTments prior to this assignment. This allows you to know something about the student before they did this problem set. You could use this to split student into low and high incoming ability to see in your intervention is effective. If this is empty it means this student has not done any prior assistment work.
prior_correct
Goes with prior_problem_count. The number of problems the student had answered correctly in ASSISTments prior to this assignment.
prior_percent_correct
prior_correct/prior_problem_count. The percent of past ASSISTments problems the student got correct.
We have some features that are related to the problem set overall like how many problems they finished to if they were doing it for homework.
problem_count
Number of problems done by the student in this assignment.
assignment_started_count
The number of students who have started this assignment for the given class (assignment_id)
assignment_finished_count
The number of students who have finished this assignment for the given class (assignment_id)
assignment_homework_count
The number of students who have finished the assignment NOT between the hours of 7-3 server time. This is considered school time.
homework_percent
The percent of students who did the assignment as homework (assignment_homework_count / assignment_finished_count)
problem_logs_id
Each problem the student does is recorded as a problem log. This is the ID of a problem log. Problem_log is the table that the biggest in ASSISTments. About 10 millions problems were solved in 2012, so there are 10 million rows in the database. For each problem, there might be a few attempts that a child made and a few hint requests. We call them actions. We don't store actions in their own table but if we did it would be bigger as every problem has at least one action (if it is correct) and more if the student was incorrect. We store in the "actions" field of problem_log the actions with time stamps.
problem_logs_assignment_id
The ID of the assignment the problem log belongs to.
problem_logs_user_id
The same as user_id. It is the user id of the student whose problem log this is.
condition
We currently do not give condition that is coming soon.
We have three new columns related to ARRS.
ARRS Correctness.
The correctness on the first reassessment test. A '1' represents that the student answered the question correctly and a '0' represents that the student answered the question incorrectly. All other values (nulls or dashes) mean the student was never assigned an ARRS test or has not yet attempted the ARRS question.
ARRS Delay Days.
The number of days between when the student finished the skill builder and when the ARRS test was assigned.
ARRS Adaptive Mode.
ASSISTments now has an adaptive version of ARRS. Students that take a longer number of items to learn, get reassessed earlier. It is important when looking at data to know if the student was assigned in adaptive mode. There is a nicely published paper on this features here.
guessed_gender
Detail on how we "guess" gender are listed here. This with either be "Male", "Female" or "Unknown"
guessed_gender_2
Similar method like "guessed_gender", but has wider coverage as detailed here. This with either be "Male", "Female" or "Unknown"
assistment_id
Similar to problem_id. The ID of a problem one will see in the builder. If a problem has multiple main problems and/or scaffolding, everything relating to one problem is called an assistment and has the same assistment_id. If you see problem logs with the same assistment number, they are multiple main problems(or scaffolding problems) that are part of the same overarching problem.
problem_id
The ID of the problem. If a problem has multiple main problems, each multiple main problem will have a different problem_id.
original
1 = Main problem
0 = Scaffolding problem
If a problem has scaffolding and the student answers incorrectly or asks for the problem to be broken into steps, a new problem will be created called a scaffolding problem. This creates a separate problem log row in the file with the variable original = 0.
correct
1 = Correct on first attempt
0 = Incorrect on first attempt, or asked for help
This column is often the target for prediction. (Minor note: Neil Heffernan notes that while this is true most of the time, we also have Essay questions that teachers can grade. Neil thinks that if this value is say .25 that means the teacher gave it a 1 our of 4.)
answer_id
Only exists for multiple choice or choose all that apply questions
A number = the answer the student put in corresponds with one of the answers for that problem
0 or empty = the student put an answer not corresponding with one of the answers for that problem
answer_text
The answer the student entered. Or the value the student selected in a multiple choice or choose all that apply problem.
first_action
0 = attempt
1 = hint
2 = scaffolding
empty = student clicked on the problem but did nothing else
hint_count
Number of hints a student asked for during the duration of the problem
bottom_hint
1 = The student asked for the bottom out hint
0 = The student did not ask for the bottom out hint.
If this is blank it means the student did not ask for a hint. Remember that for scaffolding questions they can not get a hint.
o The bottom out hint is the last hint for a problem and will generally contain the problem’s answer.
attempt_count
Number of attempts(number of times a student entered an answer)
problem_start_time
Time the student started the problem
problem_end_time
Should be the time the student finished the problem, currently it is the time in milliseconds after the problem_start_time.
first_response_time
Time between start time and first student action(asking for hint or entering an answer) (in milliseconds)
overlap_time
The time in milliseconds for the student to complete the problem. Ideally this is meant to be time it took the student to finish the problem. For instance, if a student spent 10 seconds reading the problem, asked for a hint and spent 3 seconds reading it, and then spent 14 seconds typing in the correct answer, the overlap time would be 27 seconds (expressed in milliseconds.)
This field is often computed incorrectly. Many data sets display overlap time the same as the first response time. You could compute overlap time using other fields, like using the state time of two problems.
tutor_strategy_id
The types of tutoring strategies in ASSISTments are hints or scaffolding
For a problem, the entire hint set or scaffolding set has a number, if a student used a tutoring strategy the number of that strategy is tutor_strategy_id.
If there are multiple main problems the tutoring strategies for each main problem has a unique number.
assignment_type
Determined by assignment type id. Usually ClassAssignment, but sometimes ARRS or remedial.
teacher_comment
Currently unsure what this column refers to
network_state
The state of the network when the student did the assignment.
CONNECTED = the student did the assignment while online
DISCONNECTED = the student did the assignment while offline
assignment_logs_id
Each assignment the student does is recorded as an assignment log. This is the id of an assignment log.
assignment_logs_assignment_id
This is the id of the assignment. This number is linked to the assignment and is the same for all students that do this assignment.
assignment_logs_user_id
The same as user_id
assignment_start_time
same as problem_start_time
assignment_end_time
same as problem_end_time
instance
Currently unsure what this column refers to
assignment_logs_sequence
Currently unsure what this column refers to
effort_score
Currently unsure what this column refers to
assignment_logs_variables
If a variablized template, this will return any variables present.
last_worked_on
This is the last time the student worked on something from the assignment that goes with this problem log
Only a date, not a time
Used in seeing if the daily limit is reached
mastery_status
Only significant for a skill builder
mastered = Student completed the number of problems required for mastery
limit exceeded = Student exceeded the daily limit of problems for that skill builder
not mastered exhausted = Student attempted all the problems in that skill builder
blank = Student did not fit into one of the previous three categories
assignment_logs_assignment_type
same as assignment_type
status_id
Used to tell if a teacher has marked an assignment as excused
10 = this assignment has been excused (for this student)
email_notification
Not used anymore
user_details_grade
This is the current grade of the student
There appear to be students assigned to K(Kindergarten) that are in a higher grade
preferences
Old, not used anymore
registration_code
Not important for research, used for registration
email_validation_code
Not important for research, used for registration
heard_of_us_option_id
Not important for research, used for registration
heard_of_us_other_text
Not important for research, used for registration
class_assignments_id
Same as assignment_id
class_assignments_sequence_id
ASSISTments is very confusing in how they use "Problem Set" and "Sequence". The same object that is called a "Sequence" in the database is exposed to teachers as a "Problem Set".
student_class_id
The ID of the class, the same for all students in the same class. If you plan to use hierarchical linear modeling, you can use this for the class ID. We can also give you a teacher ID. You might also want to look at section ID (if its not in here we can give it to you: Korinn).
class_assignments_name
Currently unsure what this column refers to
points_possible
This is the points possible we have assigned to the problem. It is not significant now, but might be used in the future for computing partial credit.
has_files
This is very old. Currently unsure what this column refers to
due_date
Due date for the assignment. Can be set by the teacher as a date and time or just a date.
scope_type
Currently unsure what this column refers to
scope_id
Currently unsure what this column refers to
release_date
The time when the assignment showed up in student view
curriculum_item_id
Mainly used for folders. Aside from that, currently unsure what this column refers to.
sprial_assignment_id
Used to be used for ARRS, not useful anymore.
category
Currently unsure what this column refers to
class_assignments_assignment_type_id
Number corresponding with assignment type
1 = ClassAssignment
Other numbers correspond with other assignment types (One of these means invdivudlzied assignment , one means reassessments means ret
6 mean releasing
assigned_date
Should be the date the teacher assigned the assignment, in some problem logs the day appears to be missing and only the time is shown.
time_to_due_date
Currently unsure what this column refers to. Possibly the amount of time between when the student finished the assignment and when the assignment was due.
assignment_types_id
Same as class_assignments_assignment_type_id
assignment_types_assignment_type
Type of assignment, usually class, but probably can also be ARRS
assignment_types_origin
Who assigned the assignment. Can be Teacher, ARRS or placements
assignment_types_display_name
How the assignment type is displayed. The same as assignment_types_assignment_type.
user_roles_id
Each student has a distinct user_role_id that points to a place in the user roles table that tells what role they have.
role_id
4 = Student
2 = Teacher
14 = Researcher
user_roles_user_id
Same as user_id
location_id
The id number for the school
type
For students this will always be school
location_type
For students this will always be school
school_id
ID of the school where the problem was assigned.
district_id
The id of the district
verified
Not useful for researchers. Students are only allowed to join verified schools (where verified = TRUE)
locked
Currently unsure what this column refers to
districts_id
Id number for the student’s district
district_name
Name of the student’s district
districts_state
Student’s state
districts_state_id
Id for the student’s state
districts_verfied
Not useful for researchers. Teachers are only allowed to join verified districts(where districts_verified = TRUE).
state_id
The id of the student’s state
state_name
Name of the student’s state
abbreviation
Abbreviation of the student’s state
state_locked
Not useful for researchers. Teachers are only allowed to join verified states(where state_locked = TRUE)
assistment_id
described above
assistments_name
The name of the assistment, will be cut off if too long
description
Is quite old, and doesn't appear to be used
assistments_created_at
Time the assistment was created. Should be a date and time, but sometimes is showing up as only a time.
assistments_position
Should be blank
assistment_type_id
1 = normal problem
2 = variablized template
sequence_id
same as class_assignments_sequence_id
head_section_id
Not important for research. The head section decides if a problem is linear or a skill builder.
sequences_created_at
Should be the date the sequence was created, but currently doesn't appear to be working.
sequence_name
The title of the problem set (problem set and sequence are the same thing)
sequence_description
ASSISTments does not allow the sequence description to be changed anymore. If you are looking at an old problem set, there could be a sequence description.
quality_level_id
1 = uncertified
3 = WPI certified
sequences_parameters
Parameters returned from the quick builder
sequences_updated_at
The last date the sequence was updated
order_id
These id's are chronological, and refer to the id of the original problem log.
tutor_mode
tutor, test mode, pre-test, or post-test
problem_set_type
Linear - Student completes all problems in a predetermined order.
Random - Student completes all problems, but each student is presented with the problems in a different random order.
Mastery - Random order, and student must "master" the problem set by getting a certain number of questions correct in a row before being able to continue.
base_sequence_id
This is to account for if a sequence has been copied. This will point to the original copy, or be the same as sequence_id if it hasn't been copied.
skill_id
ID of the skill associated with the problem.
For the skill builder dataset, different skills for the same data record are in different rows. This means if a student answers a multi skill question, this record is duplicated several times, and each duplication is tagged with one of the multi skills.
For the non skill builder dataset, different skills for the same data record are in the same row, separated with comma.
skill_name
Skill name associated with the problem.
For the skill builder dataset, different skills for the same data record are in different rows. This means if a student answers a multi skill question, this record is duplicated several times, and each duplication is tagged with one of the multi skills.
For the non skill builder dataset, different skills for the same data record are in the same row, separated with comma.
hint_total
Number of possible hints on this problem. We tell you the total number of hints so you can compute something like a % of hints used. Not all problems have all the same number of hints.
template_id
The template ID of the ASSISTment. ASSISTments with the same template ID have similar questions.
opportunity
The number of opportunities the student has to practice on this skill.
For the skill builder dataset, opportunities for different skills of the same data record are in different rows. This means if a student answers a multi skill question, this record is duplicated several times, and each duplication is tagged with one of the multi skills and the corresponding opportunity count.
For the non skill builder dataset, opportunities for different skills of the same data record are in the same row, separated with comma.
opportunity_original
The number of opportunities the student has to practice on this skill counting only original problems.
For the skill builder dataset, original opportunities for different skills of the same data record are in different rows. This means if a student answers a multi skill question, this record is duplicated several times, and each duplication is tagged with one of the multi skills and the corresponding original opportunity count.
For the non skill builder dataset, original opportunities for different skills of the same data record are in the same row, separated with comma.