Pearson MyLab Answers: Help Me Solve This, Attempts & Review

In Pearson MyLab (including MyLab Math, still widely called MyMathLab), you see correct answers in two legitimate places: in homework, after you use up your tries on a question, and in review mode after you finish an assignment, where your answers sit next to the correct ones. Help while you work comes from the Question Help learning aids, such as Help Me Solve This and View an Example, and from Similar Question, which gives you a new version with different numbers. Tests and quizzes are stricter: no checking, usually no help, and sometimes LockDown Browser. This guide explains each of those features, which ones your instructor controls, and how to study so MyLab practice turns into exam results.

Last verified: October 12, 2026 against the official documentation linked below.

MyLab, MyMathLab and Mastering: what they are

MyLab is Pearson's family of homework and assessment platforms sold with its textbooks: MyLab Math, Statistics, Economics, Accounting, Finance and others. MyMathLab is the older name for MyLab Math, and the two are the same product for students. Mastering (Mastering Physics, Chemistry, Biology, A&P) is Pearson's sister platform for the sciences; it works differently, with hints and per-part credit, and is covered in its own section below.

Like McGraw Hill Connect or Cengage MindTap, MyLab is usually linked from your LMS, but the questions run in Pearson's own player with Pearson's rules. Pearson notes that some assignments also run outside the player, for example Dynamic Study Modules, Learning Catalytics or Writing Space.

The three player modes, and where answers appear in each

Pearson's student guide Answer in the MyLab player describes three modes. Knowing which one you are in explains most of what you see:

Pearson's View your results page adds the route to review: open the Results page, find the assignment and click Review to see the assignment with the correct answers and your answers. Whether a test can be reviewed, and when, is an instructor setting, so a test may stay closed until after the due date.

Tries, attempts and Similar Question

MyLab uses two words that sound alike but mean different things:

• Tries are your chances to answer one version of a question. A Purdue mathematics handout on MyLab Math attempts summarises the usual homework setup: three tries on a homework question, two on multiple choice, after which the question is marked incorrect.
• Attempts are new versions of the question. After a miss, you can choose Similar Question (labelled Similar Exercise or Try Again in some courses) to get a new version with different values and a fresh set of tries. In the Purdue setup, answering the similar question correctly earns full credit, and the number of similar questions is unlimited.

That "unlimited" is a course choice, not a guarantee. Instructors can limit how many times you can work each question. Pearson's tips on using players note that when the instructor has limited retries, you don't see the Similar Exercise or Try Again button when you review the question. Tests and quizzes have their own limit on attempts per assignment, and if you take one more than once, the instructor chooses whether the gradebook uses your best, most recent or average score.

Help Me Solve This, View an Example and other learning aids

While you work in homework or the Study Plan, the player shows Question Helpwhen the instructor allows it. Pearson's guide to using the player says the help depends on the question and might include a step-by-step example, a video or a link to the online textbook. The two aids students use most:

The descriptions of Help Me Solve This and View an Example come from a Pearson efficacy study of MyLab Statistics, which describes the first as scaffolding that guides you through enacting each step and the second as a worked example. In that same study, homework allowed learning aids and unlimited attempts, while quizzes allowed one attempt and no aids, a pattern many instructors follow.

Three things to know. Learning aids are an instructor setting, so they can be missing from one assignment and present in the next. They are usually hidden on tests. And Pearson's LockDown Browser page states that question help is not available in locked-down tests.

Mastering: hints, Request Answer and partial credit

Mastering problems are split into parts, each with optional hints. Pearson's student help on whether to open hints explains the trade-offs, which depend on the grading policy your instructor sets:

• Viewing the list of available hints is free; opening an individual hint may cost a small percentage, or forgo a hint bonus if your instructor offers one.
• Correct answers to hint questions earn back partial credit, and leaving a hint question blank carries no penalty.
• Request Answer gives you the answer but no credit for that part (or that hint question).
• Wrong answers usually cost a percentage of the part's credit, set by the instructor; submitting the same wrong answer twice is not penalised again.

Pearson's own advice is that working through hints when you are stuck generally beats guessing, which matches how the scoring is designed.

Answer input: why correct answers get marked wrong

A large share of MyMathLab frustration is input, not math. Pearson's guide to entering answers in math courses explains that you type into the answer box and use the math palette, which opens when you click inside the box, for fractions, roots, exponents and other formats. Some questions instead need a number line or graph you draw with the grapher tools. Common issues:

• Typing a fraction as 2/3 inline where the question expects the fraction template, or typing a mixed number as "2 1/3" instead of using the mixed-number template.
• Rounding. Read the instruction under the box ("round to the nearest hundredth", "type an exact answer", "simplify your answer"). Carry full precision in intermediate steps.
• Form of the answer. "Type an integer or a simplified fraction", interval notation versus inequality, or "use a comma to separate answers" are part of the question, and the player checks them.
• Exponents and grouping. An exponent typed without the template, or a missing parenthesis, changes the expression. Look at the rendered preview before submitting.
• Device. Pearson says smartphones may not give an optimal experience and some question types need a PC or laptop.

When you think the player is wrong, send your instructor the exact question so they can look at your entry. Some instructors also turn on Show Work, where you draw, type or upload your working for the instructor to grade, which is also the fairest way to get partial credit on a formatting slip.

What your instructor sees and controls

Pearson says that when you work online your answers are automatically checked and the results are reported to you and to your instructor. Scores flow into the instructor's gradebook by category (homework, quizzes, tests, other, Study Plan), each with its own weight.

Pearson's player tips also warn that once you enter a test you must stay until you submit: using the browser Back button or other course links ends the session and flags the test as incomplete, and depending on the settings you may need your instructor's permission to resume.

Locked-down MyLab tests

For tests and quizzes, instructors can require the Pearson LockDown Browser. Pearson's locked-down tests page says that while it runs you cannot open other browser windows or use other applications, and question help tools are unavailable. You install it the first time (computer labs often have it already) through the Browser Check, and if the instructor allows it there is a built-in calculator. It cannot be used on tablets and is not compatible with the JAWS screen reader; if that affects you, talk to your instructor about an alternative before test day. For a broader look at what lockdown and proctoring tools record, see does LockDown Browser record you.

How to study with MyLab

1. Use your three tries to learn, not to guess. After a miss, find the error before submitting again. If you miss all three, read the shown answer, then do a Similar Question to prove you can repeat it.
2. Pick the right aid. View an Example when you need the method; Help Me Solve This when you need step-by-step prompts. Then close the aid and redo a similar question unaided.
3. Work the Study Plan before tests. Pearson's Study Plan gives practice questions very similar to your assignments and a Quiz Me check to confirm mastery.
4. Review every test you are allowed to. In review mode, hover over each missed answer and write down why the correct one is correct.
5. Practise the input format. Learn the palette templates on homework so a timed test isn't the first time you enter a mixed number or an interval.

For broader techniques, see how to study with AI tools. Our guides to Cengage MindTap, WebAssign, McGraw Hill Connect, ALEKS and zyBooks cover how the other publisher platforms handle answers and feedback.

Using an AI study assistant with MyLab material

An AI explanation is useful when Help Me Solve This tells you what to do but not why: why you factor before cancelling, why a confidence interval uses t instead of z. Try the problem, ask for the concept, then rework a Similar Question on your own.

To be precise about QuizAce: it is built and tested for Canvas (Classic + New Quizzes), Blackboard (Ultra + Original), Brightspace, Moodle, Google Forms and Microsoft Forms. On other websites, including MyLab and Mastering, it falls back to a general page reader that has not been tested on that platform, and interactive formats (graphs, drag-and-drop, embedded tools, math input editors such as the MyLab palette) are out of scope. It does not run in LockDown Browser and should not be used on tests. Your syllabus and academic-integrity policy decide what is allowed on graded work.

Sources

• Pearson MyLab student help: Answer in the MyLab player
• Pearson MyLab student help: Use the player
• Pearson MyLab student help: Enter answers in math courses
• Pearson MyLab student help: Tips on using players
• Pearson MyLab student help: View your results
• Pearson MyLab student help: Work in the Study Plan
• Pearson student help: Take locked-down tests or quizzes
• Pearson Mastering student help: Should I open hints?
• Pearson: A correlational study of MyLab Statistics (PDF)
• Purdue University Department of Mathematics: MyLab Math attempts (PDF)

FAQ

How do you see the answers on MyMathLab?

In homework, the player shows the correct answer after you use your tries on a question (three in most courses). After you finish, open Results and click Review to see your answers next to the correct ones, if your instructor allows review for that assignment.

Does Help Me Solve This give you the answer?

It walks you through the steps with guiding questions so you work out the answer yourself. The original question then still needs your answer, and many courses expect you to try a Similar Question afterwards.

What does Similar Question do in MyLab?

It replaces the question with a new version using different values and gives you a new set of tries. Whether it is unlimited depends on your instructor's attempts setting.

Why can't I see learning aids on my MyLab quiz?

Instructors usually turn learning aids off for tests and quizzes, and they are always unavailable in LockDown Browser tests.

Why was my MyLab answer marked wrong when it was right?

Usually format: rounding, fraction or mixed-number templates, interval notation, or a missing parenthesis. Check the instruction under the answer box and the rendered preview, and ask your instructor if you still think it is a grading error.

Can you use a Chromebook or tablet for locked-down MyLab tests?

Pearson says locked-down tests cannot be taken on a tablet. Check your course's system requirements and ask your instructor about device options before test day.