When a student gets the wrong answer to an equation, most tools stop at the “incorrect” stamp. But the mistake is rarely on the last line. It is usually somewhere in the middle of the working, and the student has to find it alone, or never finds it at all. That is why Learniva assesses every line of the solution, not just the result.
Here is how it works on a simple linear equation, 2x + 6 = −3x + 11, where the student slipped up in a single step.
1. Solved by hand, line by line
The student writes the solution on the board in the app just like on paper, one line under another. They can write with a pen or a finger on a tablet, or type each line on the keyboard. The last line is their answer.
2. Every line checked
When the student evaluates, Learniva goes through the working step by step. For each line it checks whether it is an equivalent transformation, that is, whether the equation still has the same solution after the step as before it.
This step changed the solution, so it is not an equivalent transformation.
This step is fine in itself, the mistake is one line up.
The first line is fine. The second is not: moving −3x to the left and 6 to the right should give 5x = 11 − 6, so 5x = 5. Instead the student subtracted the numbers in the wrong order and got −5. Learniva marks this line as invalid.
The third line, x = −1, is correct in itself, because 5x = −5 really does give x = −1. So Learniva does not count it as another mistake. It marks it as a step that only follows from the error one line up.
3. Guidance, not answers
If the student doesn’t see why the step is wrong, they can ask the AI tutor. The tutor knows the task and the student’s working. It points to the second line, shows what should happen to the constants and asks what 11 − 6 equals. The fix itself is left to the student.
Why it matters
We know from tutoring that a mistake in one step is easily mistaken for not understanding the whole topic. A student whose equation doesn’t work out often decides they “can’t do” equations. In reality they just dropped a sign or subtracted the numbers in the wrong order.
When they see the exact line, they know what to fix and don’t have to go through the whole topic again. We use the same principle, assessing the working and not just the result, in geometric constructions too.
You can practise linear equations on our practice page or directly in the app at app.learniva.io.
Try it on a real task
One free construction task, right in your browser. Learniva shows you the step where your solution went off track.
Try it for free →