Study shows how Adaptive Curriculum's real-world, active learning approach helps students achieve higher scores than students using traditional instructional methods
Following an intensive, quantitative study of mathematics achievement in 6th, 7th and 8th grade students from Isaac School District in Phoenix, researchers from Arizona State University's (ASU) Technology Based Learning & Research (TBLR) Center found that students who learn math through an innovative concept mastery solution from Adaptive Curriculum outperform their peers on Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) and on Galileo K-12 Online, an assessment system created by Assessment Technology Inc.
Results from the study showed that 95 percent of teachers using Adaptive Curriculum had students achieving more than a 5 percent gain on posttest assessments, over students not using Adaptive Curriculum. In addition, teachers using Adaptive Curriculum had more students with highest scores (3 and 4) on the AIMS assessment and fewer students failing the assessment. Similar success was seen using the national Galileo assessment with most classes posting a 5 percent or more posttest gain over the control group.
The findings were from the first year of a two-year study comparing middle school students taught math using Adaptive Curriculum's online solution with a control group that received only traditional instruction.
Designed for grades 6-12, Adaptive Curriculum engages digital-age learners by integrating real-world scenarios, cutting-edge graphics and interactive simulations into active, standards-based learning. Unlike textbooks or drill-and-practice programs, Adaptive Curriculum's active learning approach motivates learners to explore, make hypotheses, manipulate items and see the impact of their decisions, thus developing and deepening their conceptual understanding. By linking content, technology and the latest research in lesson design and effective instruction, Adaptive Curriculum is transforming math and science achievement in U.S. classrooms and around the world.
According to the study's principal investigator, Dr. Gary Bitter, Adaptive Curriculum can make difficult concepts easier for teachers to teach and for students to learn. Using Adaptive Curriculum, Bitter said, "Teachers can grow into new roles as advisers, content experts and coaches, making teaching and learning more meaningful and enhancing the relationship between teacher and student. Further, students can become more engaged when they interact with a learning environment that reflects the digital world they inhabit outside of school." Bitter is the executive director of the TBLR Center and professor of education technology at ASU.
"Unlike learning by rote or drill-and-practice, Adaptive Curriculum's real-world, active learning approach engages students and takes learning to a higher level by motivating them to explore concepts, create and test hypotheses, and manipulate items to see the impact of their decisions," said Jim Bowler, CEO of Adaptive Curriculum. "As this study demonstrates, Adaptive Curriculum succeeds where other math and science programs do not. Real gains can be seen when teachers transform classrooms to focus on conceptual development and not rote memorization or test prep."
About Adaptive Curriculum
Designed for grades 6-12, Adaptive Curriculum's web-based math and science solutions are used by more than 2 million students in the United States, Europe and Asia.Across the world, experts in math, science and online learning theory contribute to the content and design of the interactive activities to deliver effective instruction that improves performance on high-stakes tests and enhances college and career readiness.
Adaptive Curriculum is part of Sebit Inc., a global eLearning company and leader in digital curriculum innovation. For more information please call 1-888-999-9319 or visit www.adaptivecurriculum.com.
About ASU's Technology Based Learning and Research Center
As an integral part of ASU's innovation and research initiatives, TBLR focuses on research and large-scale delivery of educational materials as well as technology training and integration using computers and other information and communication technologies. TBLR projects have been funded by the Arizona Department of Education, the Fund for the Improvement of Post Secondary Education, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, and major corporations such as Cisco, Texas Instruments, Apple, and IBM. For more information please call 480-884-1700 or visit http://tblr.asu.edu/.
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