SmartStudy Science

This adaptive learning platform creates a unique learning pathway for each student. It tailors material presented to each student based on feedback from assessments, the student's learning style and pace. It increases the outcome of students taking studies in the science fields and prepares them for careers in STEM.

I’m building an online adaptive platform that teaches science to secondary school students. It creates unique learning pathways for each student and tailors the material presented to each student based on feedback from assessments, the student's learning style and pace.

Science and technology is more and more becoming the background of the world around us and forms the core of how we live and work today. One of the key skills youth need to thrive in this environment is the ability to develop an understanding in these areas and grasp it firmly enough so that they are able to contribute to its development.

Many young students are deterred from learning the sciences, believing that they are not smart enough when in fact, at times, there just isn’t enough resources to help each child succeed. Often times there is one teacher assigned to a class of 20 – 25 students and they are all subjected to a one-size-fits all method of instruction. Until this changes we will continue to see poor results in this category of education.

This solution gives disadvantaged youth the ability to develop and thrive in the field of science and technology.

When scaled across the globe we will see better attitudes towards learning science. Teachers will have an additional tool to help reach students and more students will begin to realize that success in this field is actually attainable. This will lead to more capable young people developing and working in the field of science.

STEM students need a suitable learning medium to help them succeed because they face extreme difficulties assimilating science courses. Disadvantaged youth are often located in classrooms where one teacher is assigned to 20 – 25 students and are subjected to a one-size-fits all method of instruction. With a student population having diverse learning preferences and needs each child hardly receives suitable remediation and appropriate learning content to encourage and motivate learning. This negatively impacts the number of students succeeding in the STEM field and creates a shortage of young professionals who can take up jobs in highly skilled STEM careers.

Various adaptive learning systems have already proven to increase the results of students using it. In reviewing a few of these systems Verdu et al used the effect size to determine the effectiveness of a system. Effect sizes of 0.20 are small, 0.50 are medium, and 0.80 are large. Fifteen systems were reviewed and 13 of them produced an effect size of 0.5 or greater. Ten of them produced a large effect size. This means that students using the adaptive system outperformed those who didn’t and that the effectiveness of the difference is significant enough for us to take notice.

The target outcome is to raise the success levels of students writing standard exams in Science so that they can qualify to pursue careers in the Science Technology Engineering and Math fields.

Primarily the students are the ones who will benefit from the use of this solution.

The solution will be accessible through an online website where they will create a profile that will be used to take assessments, courses and will be used to track progress.

Track the number of active profiles created on the website and compare to exam board statistics - Reach 20 % of the students writing standard exams in the various science subjects in the Caribbean

Track statistics provided by the exam board for each subject over a five year period - Increase the percentage of passes in the various science subjects by 25%

Measure scores from initial assessments and track through continuous assessments throughout the course of enrolment - Increase level of understanding in the various science subjects by 20% for enrolled students

This solution uses rules and algorithms to develop a learning path for each student. Actions taken by the learner are recorded, stored and analysed. The platform learns about each student in this way and stores the information using it to adjust the method of instruction and pace of delivery and type of content. This creates a more superior learning platform than other solutions that simply make all the learning content available to students without taking feedback from them to adjust delivery.

This solution is targeted towards teenagers, 14 – 16 years, although children today, they will become the backbone of the future. It ensures that they develop in such a way as to be able to sustain themselves and humanity technologically by setting them up for success in the careers that exist in the STEM field

The technology caters to each student individually. It understands that being human means that each person is different in a unique way and addresses this by adopting to the varying differences in learning style. 

The learning platform will be deployed online and accessed via desktop, mobile phones or tablets. Learners will require access to the internet and will need to pay a fee for full access. Some learning material will be available for free to cater for situations where persons cannot afford the basic charge of the service.

During the research phase will provide a personal tutoring service where we can learn about what methods work well with students. This service would be available for a small fee to help cover the costs of setting up and maintaining a website and development of learning material. 

We will seek a grant to develop a pilot.

During the growth and scaling stages of the project we will get money from three revenue streams: i) a monthly  subscription ii) a yearly subscription iii) payment for a single module.

In general, we will limit costs by keeping staff numbers down to a minimum. The Team Lead, Antonia, will initially take a minimum amount for remuneration and will only take the full amount when the project is well a ways into the growth phase. Other staff will be hired on a part time basis to do specific jobs as the need arises.

We require to have a sound understanding of cognitive learning, how to measure it, test it and to develop learning material to improve it. Expertise in the this area is critical to the success of the solution.

Some persons have a resistance to learning the sciences via online instruction due to the very practical nature of the subject. Persons who have these objections need to understand the advantages that online adaptive education can bring; that being, a depth of understand from online interactions (slowing events down or speeding it up) that can not otherwise come through face to face instruction. 

http://www.cxcphysics.com/

We hope that we can find an opportunity to partner with and make connections with persons who have similar passions in i) improving the delivery of STEM education to secondary school students as this would lead to improving the outcome of high school students who can successfully pursue careers in the STEM fields ii) partner with persons who have a research background in learning styles and learning assessments and have the technological background to be able to develop the necessary algorithms in order to make a successful product.  

No partnerships exist at the moment.

Knewton.com

http://realizeitlearning.com

Dreambox

aNewSpring.com