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How Knewton adaptive learning engages students
Knewton adaptive learning can improve student engagement by increasing self-confidence, decreasing discomfort and frustration, and encouraging productive learning habits.
Students are less likely to lose focus if feedback is immediate and they can quickly self-correct. A continuously adaptive learning system is able to deliver personalized feedback to both multiple choice and free response questions quickly — that is, instantaneously or near-instantaneously. The result is pacing that is conducive to risk-taking, experimentation, iterative development, and rapid learning.
Isolation can exacerbate the challenges students experience in school. An adaptive system can improve student engagement by weaving a social component into coursework. Knewton Math Readiness, for instance, provides a dashboard that allows teachers to group students who are working on the same material. Using the reporting features, teachers can also arrange peer review opportunities and form groups of students whose abilities complement each other.
figure j.
study groups and peer review
With countless opportunities for students to demonstrate skill and reflect on action and feedback, adaptive courses naturally have much in common with games. What’s more, adaptive courses keep students in a game-like state of “flow” by escalating the difficulty of the work incrementally and unveiling levels one at a time to increase suspense. These and other game elements can be heightened to transform adaptive courses into truly gamified learning experiences.
figure k.
gamification visual elements