Carnegie Mellon University
Associated IES Content
Grant
Enhancing Student Learning with an Orchestration Tool for Personalized Teacher-Student Interactions in Classrooms Using Intelligent Tutoring Software Education Technology
In this project, researchers will develop and test a tool that offers new ways for middle school teachers to use results from student work in intelligent tutors to facilitate instruction and learning. Data-driven analytics offer potential for providing insight into how students learn in technology-enhanced learning environments. However, less is known about optimizing the design of user interfaces to present analytics to teachers to improve instruction and enhance and personalize student lea...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A180301
Grant
Meta-analysis of Incorrectly Analyzed Studies
The purpose of this project was to develop a correction strategy for significance tests of incorrectly analyzed studies (i.e., single-level regression was conducted instead of multilevel modeling). The correction strategy currently used by the What Works Clearinghouse (WWC) frequently leads to very low statistical power, leading to the potentially inaccurate conclusion that from a statistical significance standpoint, the tested interventions are ineffective. The researcher developed robust m...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305D160016
Grant
Hierarchical Network Models for Education Research
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305D120004
Grant
Promoting Robust Understanding of Genetics with a Cognitive Tutor that Integrates Conceptual Learning with Problem Solving
Genetics is a fundamental and unifying theme of biology, but genetics problem solving is very challenging for high school students. The goal of this project is to develop educational technology for Conceptually-Grounded Problem Solving, scaffolded by intelligent learning support. Abductive problem solving is a form of logical inference that goes from an observation to a hypothesis that accounts for the observation, seeking to find the simplest and most likely explanation. A progression of ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A090549
Grant
Adapterrex: Exploring the Learning Benefits of Erroneous Examples and Their Dynamic Adaptations Within the Context of Middle School Mathematics
The purpose of this project is to develop an intelligent tutoring system that helps middle school students learn mathematics. The specific focus is decimals, a subdomain of mathematical knowledge about which students often have common and persistent misconceptions. The system, called AdaptErrEx, will present students with worked examples of problems, in which each step of a problem solution path is presented for the students, along with feedback and instruction. Additionally, a unique fea...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A090460
Grant
Learning by Teaching Synthetic Student: Using SimStudent to Study the Effect of Tutor Learning
The purpose of this project is to develop an intelligent tutoring system designed to help students master algebra concepts related to solving linear equations. In this intelligent tutoring system, students teach a computer learner, SimStudent, how to solve linear equations. The students select linear equations for SimStudent to solve and monitor SimStudent's performance, providing hints and feedback. The goal of the tutoring is for students to improve their understanding of algebraic conc...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A090519
Grant
Accelerating Fluency Development in an Automated Reading Tutor
Fluency-defined as the ability to read connected text quickly, easily, accurately, and expressively-is one of the most important skills needed to develop successful readers. However, acquiring this skill takes practice and guidance from teachers and many schools lack the resources to give students the individualized practice and attention they need to excel. One possible method for filling this gap is through the use of tutors. While human tutors can be expensive and difficult to find, anoth...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A080628
Grant
Reader-Specific Lexical Practice For Improved Reading Comprehension
In this project, researchers proposed to iteratively develop and test an intervention to support reading comprehension for university students and students in third through sixth grade. This intervention was to include a web-based search engine and intelligent tutoring system. The students were to use the search engine to select passages on the Internet on topics of interest that also met specific standards of reading difficulty. As students used the search engine, the search engine would ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305G030123
Workshop/Training
Data Science for Education (DS4EDU)
This training prepares education practitioners to use established and emerging data science methods with an emphasis on statistical thinking and computational approaches for educational research.
Apr 01, 2025
12:00AM - 11:59PM EDT
Grant
Effects of Mixed-Reality, Real-Time Analytics Teacher Tools on Teachers and Student Learning
In this project, the researchers will develop and pilot test a classroom orchestration tool running on mixed-reality smart glasses to provide real-time awareness and decision support to middle school mathematics teachers. The new tool, Lumilo 2, will operate with and build upon the researchers' prior IES-funded work developing intelligent tutoring software (ITS) to provide personalized and adaptive guidance to students as they engage in complex problem-solving practice (R305A180301, R305A210...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A240281
Grant
Data Science for Education (DS4EDU)
Because of increased capabilities for collecting and analyzing education data, the field has new opportunities for research-based, data-driven improvements in education activities. However, education practitioners have not been fully able to leverage these developments and data to inform large scale improvements in the field. In this program, trainers will prepare education practitioners to use established and emerging data science methods with an emphasis on statistical thinking and computa...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B230008
Grant
Optimizing AI-Based Tutoring Software for Middle-School Mathematics on Smartphones
In this project, researchers will conduct design-based research with students, parents, and teachers to develop a mobile data-optimized tutoring system to promote deliberate math practice for middle-school students, combined with a new system for parent-student motivational nudges to encourage parents to support their children in doing homework. The research team will optimize units from the Mathtutor platform-a comprehensive web-based tutoring system for middle-school mathematics-and specif...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A220386
Grant
Improving Understanding of Fractions
The purpose of this project is to identify optimal instructional approaches for improving elementary and middle school students' understanding of fraction magnitudes and middle school students' and pre-service teachers' understanding of fraction arithmetic. Fraction understanding is critical for success in algebra, trigonometry, chemistry, physics, and other mathematics and science subject areas, yet many students struggle to acquire adequate proficiency with fractions. In this project, the ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A180514
Grant
Contextualizing Experimental Design Instruction Within Related Inquiry Activities: The ISP Tutor
The purpose of this project is to develop and pilot test the Inquiry-based Science Projects (ISP) Tutor, an enhanced version of the computer-based adaptive Tutor for Experimental Design (TED). ISP will provide instructional support to improve students' ability to perform experimental science in extended, engaging, and meaningful contexts. TED, which was developed with prior IES funding (Training in Experimental Design: Developing Scalable and Adaptive Computer-based Science Instruction and P...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A170176
Grant
Program in Interdisciplinary Education Research
hrough this 2015 grant, PIER continued to train fellows to conduct rigorous research on learning conditions related to curriculum, instruction, and assessment to improve academic outcomes for diverse prekindergarten through postsecondary students.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B150008
Grant
Use of Machine Learning to Adaptively Select Activity Types and Enhance Student Learning with an Intelligent Tutoring System
When preparing instructional materials and lesson plans, teachers and instructional designers choose from an almost overwhelming set of student activity types. A fundamental problem in education is determining what combinations and sequences of activity types are most effective in supporting student learning. This research team hypothesizes that significant gains in robust learning are possible by careful selecting among a diverse set of activity types. To address this issue, the researchers...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A130215
Grant
Combining Advantages of Collaborative and Individual Learning with an Intelligent Tutoring System for Fractions
Classroom instruction often involves both individual and collaborative modes of learning. Yet relatively little is known about the ways in which these learning modes complement each other, or how best to combine them. In this project, the research team will combine features of both individual and collaborative learning interventions that each on their own have evidence of efficacy into a revised version of a current web-based intelligent tutoring system. Previous research has found that inte...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A120734
Grant
Classroom Environment, Allocation of Attention, and Learning Outcomes in K–4 Students
There is a paradox in the relationship between current knowledge about cognitive development and current practice in the design of classroom visual environments. It is well-documented that distractibility decreases markedly with age; however, younger learners (i.e., K-4 students) frequently learn in classrooms containing large amounts of potentially distracting visual materials not relevant to the on-going instruction (e.g., colorful posters, alphabet charts, maps, etc.). Loss of instruction...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A110444
Grant
Post-doctoral Training Program in Interdisciplinary Education Research
The postdoctoral program trained four scientists to do rigorous research on learning conditions related to curriculum, instruction, and assessment for diverse K–12 student populations.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B110003
Grant
Promoting Transfer of the Control of Variables Strategy in Elementary and Middle School Children via Contextual Framing and Abstraction
Students from third to seventh grade have a surprisingly poor understanding of the basic procedural and conceptual aspects of experimental design (simply labeled here as "CVS," for the Control of Variables Strategy). Although students' understanding of CVS does improve as a result of direct instruction, students' performance is typically low, even when a repeated tutoring cycle of instruction is used. The purpose of this project is to determine which elements are critical to support the teac...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A100404
Grant
Carnegie Mellon and RAND Traineeships (CMART) in Methodology and Interdisciplinary Research
This program trained four fellows and was carried out in collaboration with the RAND Corporation, whose team applies quantitative and methodological training to scientifically rigorous education research.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B100012
Grant
A Theory-Driven Search for the Optimal Conditions of Instructional Guidance in Algebra Tutor
The purpose of this research is to better understand the cognitive processes of individual students as they solve algebra problems in the context of the Carnegie Learning Algebra Tutor software. The researchers will use computer simulations of individual students (synthetic student models) to find the optimal conditions of instructional guidance a student would need to receive to master an algebra problem. The team will explore whether techniques such as direct instruction or guided discover...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A100109
Grant
Postdoctoral Training in Children's Mathematics Learning
This postdoctoral program trained three fellows on contemporary theories of and methods for studying cognitive development.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B100001
Grant
Carnegie Mellon University Program in Interdisciplinary Education Research (PIER)
Carnegie Mellon established the Program in Interdisciplinary Education Research (PIER) with funding from a 2004 IES grant. With the 2009 grant, PIER continued to train scientists to conduct rigorous research on learning conditions related to curriculum, instruction, and assessment to improve academic outcomes for diverse prekindergarten through postsecondary students.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B090023
Grant
Improving Children's Numerical Understanding
The ability to estimate numerical magnitude is important, not only because of its role in mathematical thinking but also because it is a part of daily life. Estimation is also related to other aspects of mathematical ability, including arithmetic skill, conceptual understanding of computational procedures, and math achievement test scores. Preliminary evidence suggests that increasing young children's use of appropriate representations of numerical magnitudes can improve their estimation a...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A080013
Grant
Developing Vocabulary in an Automated Reading Tutor
Research indicates that explicit vocabulary instruction benefits students' word learning and comprehension of text. However, major instructional challenges remain, for example, determining how to teach enough words to matter and how to teach them so that they are actually learned and retained. The purpose of this project is to develop, iteratively refine, and evaluate the usability and feasibility of an automated tutorial intervention to help children in grades 2-3 learn vocabulary necessary...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A080157
Grant
Bringing Cognitive Tutors to the Internet: A Website that Helps Middle-School Students Learn Math
Students in American schools consistently perform lower in mathematics than their counterparts in many other countries. One possible way to improve math achievement is to augment in-school mathematics learning with after-school activities. However, after-school tutoring is limited and, of the many websites available for math instruction, few are free and few offer guided learning by doing. The researchers propose to develop a website for middle-school mathematics (grades 6-8) where students ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A080093
Grant
Bridging the Bridge to Algebra: Measuring and Optimizing the Influence of Prerequisite Skills on a Pre-Algebra Curriculum
Relatively little research has focused on the development of curricula and instructional methods designed to improve skills that are required for learning and doing algebra. The purpose of this project is to develop an automated tutorial intervention that is intended to improve learning in a pre-algebra curriculum. In particular, the goal of this intervention is to help children learn new complex math skills by attending to prerequisite math skills. In many theories of learning, complex s...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B070487
Grant
Explicit Comprehension Instruction in an Automated Reading Tutor that Listens
Many students struggle to understand what they read even after they have achieved proficiency in basic reading skills (e.g., decoding, word recognition). Explicit instruction in reading comprehension, especially in the early grades, has been widely neglected in classroom practice, with relatively little research conducted that develops and evaluates instructional approaches for teaching reading comprehension in the primary grades. The purpose of this project is to develop and evaluate an a...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B070458
Grant
Determinants of Student Outcomes in an Urban School District: Educational Interventions and Family Choices
Like many urban school districts, the Pittsburgh Public School District has sustained declining enrollments, increased budgetary pressures, low student achievement relative to state and national norms, and large racial gaps in achievement. In 2005, the Pittsburgh Public Schools enacted a plan for reform. The purpose of this project is to study and evaluate the effect of this reform agenda on student outcomes.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305A070117
Grant
Training in Experimental Design: Developing Scalable and Adaptive Computer-based Science Instruction
In this project, the researchers proposed to develop a computer-based intelligent tutoring system that would provide instruction to help students learn about experimental design. This intelligent tutoring system, called Intelligent TED Tutor, would provide feedback based on individual learners' knowledge and mastery in real time across a variety of tasks and science content areas. The research team argued that it was important for students to master two aspects of the scientific method: (a) ...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305H060034
Grant
Improving Children's Pure Numerical Estimation
In this project, the researchers further refined and tested mathematic interventions that were developed in their prior research. These interventions aimed to increase children's abilities to discriminate between the magnitudes of numbers decreases sharply as these magnitudes increase. The researchers' preliminary evidence suggested that increasing young children's use of appropriate representations of numerical magnitudes would improve their estimation and, by extension, their math achievem...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305H050035
Grant
Program in Interdisciplinary Education Research (PIER)
The Carnegie Mellon's Program in Interdisciplinary Research (PIER) aimed to produce scientists qualified to do rigorous research needed for evidence-based educational practice and policy. PIER fellows dealt with the bi-directional flow of ideas and challenges between laboratory studies and instructional applications.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305B040063
Grant
Using Web-Based Cognitive Assessment Systems for Predicting Student Performance on State Exams
Using Web-Based Cognitive Assessment Systems for Predicting Student Performance on State Exams
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305K030140
Grant
The Neural Markers of Effective Learning
In this project, the researchers proposed to use various experimental approaches to build theory that could guide the development of improved computer-based algebra tutors. The approaches they proposed using included both behavioral and brain imaging techniques. At the time of this study, research was indicating that computer-based tutoring programs were having some success in helping students learn algebraic procedures but were having less success in teaching students how to solve algebra w...
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305H030016
Grant
From Cognitive Models of Reasoning to Lesson Plans for Inquiry
In this project, researchers intended to develop, implement, and assess cognitively grounded lesson planning methods to improve science achievement of middle-school students.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305H030229
Grant
Using Cognitive Analyses to Improve Children's Math and Science Learning
In this project, researchers explored how differences in initial conceptual understanding affect children's learning of mathematics and science. Additionally, researchers planned to test alternative instructional strategies to improve learning that addressed these differences.
Federal funding program:
Award number:
R305H020060
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