When a student attempts a concept, the difficulty level adjusts to suit each student. Most students will start with easy questions, to build confidence, and then move to more difficult questions as they get easier one correct. Stronger students will move more quickly to harder questions, to avoid boredom.
The "difficulty adjustment" is one of the most immediately effective aspects of BuildUp.
The difficulty level of each question is indicated in the top right corner of the question screen, as a 3-bar scale: easy - medium - hard.
Getting started
Most student start with a couple of easy questions. Some students will start with medium questions, most likely if they have performed well on this concept before, or have performed very well in all the concepts leading up to this one.
Adjustments
In general, if the student gets questions correct, the difficulty level increases; and as they get questions wrong, the difficulty level decreases. In practise, BuildUp also makes allowances for minor slips and the student's prior learning in evaluating the best difficulty level to provide.
Ending the lesson
The lesson usually ends after 6 or 7 questions. However, if the student is very weak at this concept, the lesson may end after 4 incorrect questions, as the student is gaining little from this effort.