A customised African release of CAST (Computer Assisted
Statistics Textbooks) has provided much-needed access to a
series of modern statistics textbooks for many students in
Africa. The recent addition of a collection of interactive CAST
exercises has proved valuable in strengthening the learning of
statistical concepts by students. A new CAST testing system has
been developed to present the exercises as formal test
questions. Students can practice beforehand with similar
randomised exercises and can get immediate feedback as soon as
the test is finished. This paper describes a pilot study in
Kenya to evaluate the added benefit of using the CAST tests and
is its first evaluation. Use of these tests is linked to an on-
line course called “Statistics Made Simple”. The effectiveness
of the tests is discussed.