University of Memphis

A large percent of U.S. adults struggle to read even basic texts, but there are few valid assessments for adult learners who have underdeveloped reading literacy skills across the variety of educational settings that serve them. Consequently, there is limited support for diagnostic, progress monitoring, and outcome measurement that is aligned with empirically supported instruction. The purpose of this project was to develop a digital assessment system appropriate for use with adult learners,...

Encouraged by the effectiveness of one-on-one human tutoring, computer tutors that mimic human tutors have been built successfully with the hope that a computer tutor could be afforded by every child with access to a computer. The development of state-of-the-art computer tutors with natural language dialogue has been inspired primarily from studies of typical, non-expert human tutors. The proposed project will develop and test an innovative intelligent tutoring system (ITS) that intends to ...

The proposed study examines the efficacy of using the Assessment and LEarning in Knowledge Spaces (ALEKS®) system in after-school settings to improve the mathematical skills of struggling 6th grade students. ALEKS® is a web-based, artificial intelligent assessment and learning system that uses adaptive questioning to quickly and accurately determine exactly what a student knows and does not know in a math course. Previous research with ALEKS®, implemented within the classroom...

There is substantial empirical evidence that one-on-one human tutoring is an effective supplement to typical classroom instruction. Yet, human tutors cannot be provided to every child—as there are simply not enough tutors. This project will develop Guru, a computer-based intelligent tutoring system, to assist high school students with biology learning.

Writing well is an essential skill for success in school and beyond, but learning to write is a complex process that depends on changes in students' strategic behavior, knowledge about writing, and motivation. Substantial numbers of American students are not performing at or above proficient levels in writing. The purpose of this project is to develop an automated, intelligent writing tutor-The Writing Pal-that provides writing strategy instruction and writing skill development. The syste...

In the early 2000s, the tools used to determine the readability of texts were severely limited, may not have helped schools or researchers appropriately identify texts that are well-matched to readers, and may have been paradoxically aggravating comprehension difficulties. To address this issue, the research team proposed to develop two automated tools: Coh-Metrix and Coh-GIT. These tools aimed to enable writers, editors, and educators to more accurately estimate the appropriateness of a tex...