LinearTactics Gym (Problems)
The tactics gym is annoying! Sometimes it lets you see the solutions after you are done, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes you can replay the problems to try and improve the ones you got wrong, sometimes you can't.
I am also having a tough time seeing the benefit of the tactics gym over a good old fashion book. When I get a problem wrong in a book I can instantly see why and learn a lesson. Even if the tactics gym is in the mood to let me see the correct solutions I can't see them until I am done with a section so the lesson to be learned has lost some of it's immediacy.
Any thoughts??
Tactics Gym
by Tony Kosten 
, France, Monday, August 10, 2009, 16:56 (5728 days ago) @ tomgdrums
? The tactics gym is annoying! Sometimes it lets you see the solutions after
? you are done, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes you can replay the problems
? to try and improve the ones you got wrong, sometimes you can't.
I don't understand this, you should get a set of 15 puzzles followed by the solutions, then another 15 puzzles, etc. You should get 3 goes for each problem, and less marks for each you get wrong.
? I am also having a tough time seeing the benefit of the tactics gym over a
? good old fashion book. When I get a problem wrong in a book I can
? instantly see why and learn a lesson. Even if the tactics gym is in the
? mood to let me see the correct solutions I can't see them until I am done
? with a section so the lesson to be learned has lost some of it's
? immediacy.
When you are going through a book of tactics you would normally go through a page (or more) of tactics before looking at the answers. Two advantages of the Gym are that you can't look at the answers (even inadvertently!) and you can't cheat with your scores! 
Tactics Gym
As I said, the gym is inconsistent. When I went through the novice section it wouldn't always let me replay the problems. Yes I get the "3 goes" but the ability to study them further is not always available.
Another problem IS the scoring. Scoring is antithetical to the learning process. I just want to know if I got it right or wrong. And then if I got it wrong, I want to know why, so that I can learn from it and then try again. Testing (scoring) should be done after a good deal of learning, so as to truly evaluate comprehension of an entire unit or section of material. Scoring each problem seriously detracts from the pedagogical value of the gym.
Tactics Gym
by Tony Kosten , France, Monday, August 10, 2009, 22:46 (5728 days ago) @ tomgdrums
? Another problem IS the scoring. Scoring is antithetical to the learning
? process. I just want to know if I got it right or wrong. And then if I
? got it wrong, I want to know why, so that I can learn from it and then try
? again. Testing (scoring) should be done after a good deal of learning, so
? as to truly evaluate comprehension of an entire unit or section of
? material. Scoring each problem seriously detracts from the pedagogical
? value of the gym.
If the scoring bothers you then simply ignore it. It gives a useful idea of how you are doing, and whether you are improving or not. If nothing else we find it useful to see how a subscriber is doing.
We are not quite sure why you would want to try a problem again after you had already seen the answer!
Tactics Gym
? If the scoring bothers you then simply ignore it. It gives a useful idea
? of how you are doing, and whether you are improving or not.
Actually the scoring does not let me know if I am improving as there are time bonuses and then penalties for taking too much time. None of this factors to in to whether I have learned the concept or not.
? We are not quite sure why you would want to try a problem again after you
? had already seen the answer!
Well first of all, I wouldn't attempt the problem immediately after seeing the answer as that would be useless. However, I am fairly certain that repetition is the universally accepted method of improvement in almost every discipline where knowledge must be turned into skill.
As this seems to be going nowhere I will just have to admit that ImproveYourChess.com is not the place for me and leave it at that.
Thank you for your time.
