The Knewton Blog

It’s an unavoidable problem in traditional classrooms: teachers, in the challenging position of teaching a class of 30 students or more with a wide variety of abilities and needs, are struggling to understand exactly what those needs and abilities are and to provide the instruction that will be most helpful for each student. Knewton is working hard to solve this problem. In particular, we on the Knewton Adaptive Instruction Team have worked to create a… Read more

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I’ve been a course developer at Knewton for just over 2 years. Prior to that, I served as a New York Teaching Fellow and completed my Masters in Education at Fordham University, where I wrote my thesis paper on the effects of teachers’ epistemological beliefs on the successful implementation of student-centered teaching practices. A few weeks ago, I decided to share some of my knowledge on the subject of student-centered or “constructivist” teaching with my… Read more

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You’ve probably heard that the grammar section of the GMAT features a lot of questions about “idioms.” If all you’ve heard about idioms is that they tend to be annoying, here’s a more formal definition: The distinction between those two types of idioms is important. We get many reports of students who speak English as a second language spending countless hours memorizing the meaning of phrases like “throw the baby out with the bathwater” to… Read more

Posted in GMAT, Verbal Guide | 2 comments

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In our latest research at Knewton into how students learn, we’ve found that one of the best ways to get students to think more deeply is to get them to engage in metacognition, i.e. thinking about thinking. All this thinking about thinking about thinking (meta-metacognition?) has led to a few conclusions that can be applied in any classroom. 1. Students learn better when they understand their strengths and weaknesses. Studies show that high-performing students tend… Read more

Posted in EdTech, Education, Education & Technology, Knewton | 6 comments

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This GMATPrep® Sentence Correction question was sent to us by a student who got stuck between two choices and couldn’t decide which was right. It is a perfect example of the fact that the GMAT asks you to choose the best version of the sentence from among the five choices given, not the best possible version. Let’s take a look: Regarded by opponents as ineffective and meddlesome and by supporters as a conserver of life… Read more

Posted in GMAT, Verbal Guide | 2 comments

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There’s nothing more frustrating than preparing thoroughly for the GMAT critical reasoning section — poring over hundreds of complex arguments, wrapping your head around triple negations, learning to spot an assumption from a mile away — only to end up losing points for something as simple as not paying attention to the question stem. Yet the shadowy figures behind the GMAT are bent on making sure you do just that, peppering assumption, strengthen, and weaken… Read more

Posted in Featured, GMAT, Verbal Guide | 3 comments

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Managing your time on the SAT can be a tricky task. Most sections of the test allow for less than a minute per question if you want to finish. That said, with proper time management and knowledge of the test format, it is entirely possible to successfully complete every section on the SAT. There are, however, some important strategies to keep in mind along the way. 1. Don’t rush through sections. With the exception of… Read more

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If your grades or SAT scores are on the borderline of acceptability for your college of choice, sometimes a strong letter of recommendation is the best way to tip the scales in your favor. When I was deferred after applying early decision to Oberlin College, I ran around like a maniac getting everyone but my mailman to write me a recommendation, and ended up getting in the spring. While I can’t be sure, I have… Read more

Posted in College Admissions, SAT | No comments

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Recently, veteran teacher turned ed-tech expert and author of Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts, and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms Will Richardson gave an interview with Education Week about the growing role of technology in schools. The article stood out because it is (unfortunately) very rare to hear from someone with such intricate knowledge not only of technology, but also of the ways that technology can work to address the most pressing problems and needs in… Read more

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The SAT essay requires you to produce a 4 or 5 paragraph essay in a mere 25 minutes, a feat you will likely never be called on to repeat again (I can’t remember ever having less than an hour for a college essay test of comparable length). In this painfully short amount of time you will be asked to form an opinion about a topic, come up with two specific examples to support that opinion,… Read more

Posted in Featured, SAT, Writing Section Guide | One comment

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