NEW YORK, Aug. 15, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Two research
studies published in the first half of 2018 show significant
learning gains, including a 15-point pass rate improvement, for
college students using McGraw-Hill Education's ALEKS adaptive
learning technology in math and chemistry. The studies looked at
the effects of ALEKS on nearly 12,000 students at two public
institutions -- West Virginia
University and Milwaukee Area Technical
College.
Based on the theory of "knowledge spaces" from cognitive
science, ALEKS creates a personalized and dynamic learning path for
K-20 students based on their unique needs. Since all students enter
a course with varying levels of preparedness, ALEKS's technology
pinpoints what students already know, what they don't and, most
importantly, what they're ready to learn next. Rooted in research
and analytics, ALEKS helps improve student outcomes by fostering
better preparation, increased motivation and knowledge
retention.
"These two new studies are valuable pieces of evidence that add
to a deep body of research showing that ALEKS works," said
Al Essa, VP of Analytics and R&D
at McGraw-Hill. "Our research and
implementation experience shows that, when instructors leverage our
educational technology as a tool to meet students where they are in
their math and chemistry journeys, students consistently perform
better than when using more traditional teaching models that are
often less personalized to individual needs."
The two studies released in 2018 continue to build on research
showing the powerful effects that ALEKS can have on student
learning outcomes.
1) General Chemistry: The results of a four-year study
involving more than 8,500 students at West
Virginia University (WVU) and
conducted by WVU researchers were
published in the Journal of Chemical Education, the leading
research journal in chemical education, published by the American
Chemical Society. The study said the following:
"The adaptive system [ALEKS] was found to increase the odds of a
higher final letter grade for average, below average, and failing
students.....Specific to [ALEKS], most students (95%) reported
engaging in remediation of incorrect responses, a majority of
students (69%) reported changes in study habits, and students
recognized the benefit of using [ALEKS] by ranking its assignments
and explanations or review materials as two of the top three most
useful course aspects contributing to perceived learning."
Citation:
General Chemistry Student Attitudes and Success with Use of
Online Homework: Traditional-Responsive versus
Adaptive-Responsive
Michelle
Richards-Babb, Reagan Curtis, Betsy Ratcliff, Abhik
Roy, and Taylor Mikalik
J. Chem. Educ. 2018 95 (5),
691-699
DOI: 10.1021/acs.jchemed.7b00829
2) Math: According to research published for the
International Conference on Learning Analytics & Knowledge,
students who used ALEKS at Milwaukee Area
Technical College (MATC) passed their math courses more
often than students who did not use ALEKS. The research, which
leveraged data collected from 3,400 students in 198 sections of
pre-algebra, elementary and intermediate algebra and college math,
was conducted jointly by McGraw-Hill data scientists and Dr.
Ryan Baker, a professor at the
University of Pennsylvania who is a
member of the advisory board of McGraw-Hill's Learning Science Research
Council.
The research, which matched students by age, race and placement
test scores, showed that ALEKS students at MATC "had statistically
significant higher pass rates…achieving a boost of 15 points in
pass rates." Students using ALEKS were 1.27 times more likely to
pass the course compared to students not using ALEKS. The paper
continued, "ALEKS is statistically significantly more effective at
enhancing pass rates compared to the control condition."
Citation:
Studying Adaptive Learning Efficacy using Propensity Score
Matching
Shirin Mojarad, Alfred Essa, and Ryan S.
Baker
Companion Proceedings 8th International Conference on
Learning Analytics & Knowledge (LAK18)
To learn more about ALEKS in higher education and read more
success stories, visit:
https://www.mheducation.com/highered/aleks.html
About McGraw-Hill Education
McGraw-Hill
Education is a learning science company that delivers personalized
learning experiences that help students, parents, educators and
professionals drive results. McGraw-Hill Education has offices
across North America, India, China,
Europe, the Middle East and South America, and makes its learning
solutions available in more than 60 languages. Visit us at
mheducation.com or find us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or
Twitter.
Contact:
Tyler
Reed
McGraw-Hill Education
(646) 766-2951
tyler.reed@mheducation.com
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SOURCE McGraw-Hill Education