Description:

Purpose: The purpose of this project was to develop and pilot test an instructional support platform, Agent and Library Augmented Shared Knowledge Areas (ALASKA), to promote student learning and achievement in algebra by. This platform integrated multiple promising technologies to customize the learning and instructional needs of students in Algebra I classrooms. In addition, the researchers developed and tested a teacher professional development component to the platform, Preparing Digital Libraries for Customized Access to Educational Experience (PREDICATE), which was designed to engage teachers in a blend of reflective practice and curriculum customization that supplemented the resources available to them.

Project: The researchers developed ALASKA, an instructional support platform that integrated four distinct technologies: collaborative workspaces, learning object digital libraries, pedagogical agents, and tablet computers. In addition, the researchers developed and tested PREDICATE to support the use of ALASKA. The digital library features were teacher-generated, and they were intended to supplement curriculum materials the school used and correspond to the specific standards for which the teachers and schools were accountable.

Products: The project produced an instructional support platform and teacher professional development component for use in Algebra I classrooms.

Structured Abstract

Setting: The setting for this study was an urban school in California.

Sample: The study sample consisted of 100 ninth-grade Algebra I students drawn from five classrooms. The sample was diverse with the student population being 26% Latino, 33% Asian, 7% African American, and 34% Caucasian. Approximately 24% of the students came from low-income families.

Intervention: The researchers developed ALASKA, an instructional support platform that integrated four distinct technologies: collaborative workspaces, learning object digital libraries, pedagogical agents, and tablet computers. The ALASKA program was used by students in Algebra I classrooms when doing assigned classroom seatwork. While using the program, automated tutors or agents compiled and supplied information to students; students communicated with the teacher or with peers; and teachers viewed multiple students' ongoing work and communicated with the students through the program. In addition, the researchers developed and tested a teacher professional development component referred to as PREDICATE (Preparing Digital Libraries for Customized Access to Educational Experience). The digital library features were teacher-generated to supplement curriculum materials the school used and to correspond to the specific standards for which the teachers and schools were accountable.

Research Design and Methods: Each component within ALASKA and PREDICATE was developed and tested in a piecewise iterative fashion with teacher involvement at every step. For the usability and feasibility study, 100 ninth-grade Algebra I students in 5 different classrooms participated. During the first phase of the testing process, each of the four distinct technologies was tested separately and in combination to determine usability and feasibility. In the second phase of the testing process, the full program was tested and examined to determine the promise of the program for improving the learning and instruction of Algebra I.

Control Condition: There was no control condition.

Key Measures: The key measures included the number of applets created by teachers, measures of student engagement, number of digital library retrievals, the program's "hit rate" for accurately responding to student queries and whether the program sustained dialog after the initial query, the number of peer tutoring episodes, and the mathematical context of the peer exchanges. Interviews were conducted with teachers along with videotaping of classroom sessions.

Data Analytic Strategy: The researchers conducted analyses using descriptive statistics from the quantitative measures and examined the qualitative data collected from the interviews to determine the usability and feasibility of the program.

Products and Publications

ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here. article, monograph, or newsletter

Hamilton, E. (2015). Advancing a Complex Systems Approach to Personalized Learning Communities: Bandwidth, Sightlines, and Teacher Generativity. Journal of Interactive Learning Research, 26(1), 89–104.