Challenge Feedback Tool

In the Phase I project in 2021, the team developed a new prototype portal for adult judges to provide feedback and to safely engage with students who submitted entries in response to challenges. The prototype also included a machine learning algorithm to identify themes in student entries and provided judges with suggestions on what feedback to provide. At the end of Phase I, researchers completed a pilot study with 11 educators, 291 students in Grades 3 to 8, and 218 judges who participated in student challenges.

In Phase II, the team will fully develop the portal and will make iterative refinements based on feedback from students, judges, and educators at major production milestones. After development is complete, researchers will conduct a pilot study with 44 middle school classrooms (15 per treatment condition) with approximately 25 students per classroom (for a total of 1100 students) to test the feasibility, usability, fidelity of implementation, and the promise of the new portal to support outcomes. All classes will participate in a student challenge, half will receive feedback from judges, and half will not. Researchers will examine changes in students' perceptions of their ability to be successful with challenges using items from the Competency Beliefs in STEM measure, and a researcher developed measure for engagement in learning.