Note: If you’re looking for the results of the auto-generated Number Sense practice tests, you can find them in the repository here. If you’re interested in some of the background behind the project, read below:
So I had a couple of free hours this past week so I whipped up some rough python code to auto-generate UIL Number Sense tests based off a database of questions that are sub-divided into 10-question buckets (e.g., I pooled Questions 1-10, 11-20, etc…, and randomly selected ten problems from each bucket and assembled a test in rough order). This would ensure that you don’t wind up with weird results like an integral question as Problem #1 or an easy multiply by 11 question as problem number #75.
You can download the first auto-generated practice test here and the answers here. For the time being, I plan on releasing a new practice test every week and setting up an archive on my website so you can view and download all auto-generated practice tests that have been created.
The formatting is about 98% there — occasionally you’ll have some quirky typesetting based on the conversion to LaTeX — and I only checked randomly selected answers to make sure they are coinciding with the problems asked, so there might be some mistakes on that end. For future tests, I’ll do a quick scan and correct any obviously wrong typeface.
All that’s left now is to write LaTeX stubs for more practice problems and increase my database of questions. I plan on contracting out that work through Fiverr in order to better optimize my time. I’ll be sure to release a “final” version of my python code as well as periodic updates to my questions database on this website so that coaches and students can run the code themselves and generate as many practice tests as they want.
So stay tuned for any updates and, if you are a competitor, check back every week for a new test!
Would it be possible for practice test to be generated in a format of 80 questions of just the first subset of 10, 80 questions of the second subset, and so forth. This would allow student to practice speed on the different subsets and increase their efficacy.
That is the plan for the next phase of the project as there has been a fair amount of interest in doing just that. Additionally, I plan on making drill sheets that focus on individual topics (multiplying numbers close to 100, squares ending in 5, etc…).
Right now, I am almost done with adding questions to the database — around 10k questions for High School and 12k questions for Middle School. I plan on beginning the column sheets and drill sheets starting at the end of September. They should be ready for download by the start of October.
You’re my hero.
This is awesome! Very cool of you.
I worked out the MS test 001.
On problem #11, the answer should be 8/225 instead of 8/255.
On problem #14, the answer key has “4200” as the answer. Based on that, I think the problem should be 63 x 66 2/3. It currently has 62 x 66 2/3.
On problem #36, The answer should be 6.52. The answer key has 6.5.
Nice catches – thank you so much! I’ve estimated my error rate to be about 4%, so there are about 400 more questions that will need updated! I’ll get a revised test posted and update the database to reflect the changes so that future tests won’t have the same issue.