Press Releases
For Immediate Release
Contact: Al Renshaw
Phone: 1-800-577-9040
e-Mail: Al Renshaw
QUANTUM® TUTORING SOFTWARE IMPROVES
STUDENT TEST SCORES BY FULL LETTER GRADE
New Artificial Intelligence Automatic
Grading/Assessment Technology Used to Evaluate Student Performance
at Pittsburgh Area High School
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - February
1, 2005, Quantum Simulations, Inc., a developer of artificial intelligence
(AI) tutoring and assessment software, announced the results of a
research study evaluating the effectiveness of Quantum's Chemistry
Tutors and Automatic Grading/Assessment Tool at Carmichaels Area Junior/Senior
High School in Carmichaels, Greene County, Pennsylvania.
The one-week study included 51 high
school students from Carmichaels Area Junior/Senior High School. Students
were divided into two groups:
-
Treatment group (31 students),
who used the Quantum Tutors® for at-home study.
-
Control group (20 students),
who received the same classroom instruction as the Treatment group
but did not use the Quantum Tutors®.
Both the treatment and control groups
were given pre- and post-tests to benchmark and evaluate performance
in understanding balancing chemical equations, an essential fundamental
topic covered in high school chemistry.
The results demonstrated that students
using the Quantum Tutors® as part of their at-home study outperformed
the control group on the post-test by an average of 12.8 points, or
just over a full letter grade (see chart below). In addition, the
difference in test scores between the treatment and control groups
widened as the problems became more difficult to solve - a clear indication
that understanding and comprehension significantly improved for students
using the Quantum Tutors®.
Student
Performance: Pre- and Post-Test Results
Carmichaels
Area Junior/Senior High School
|
Mean
Score*
|
|
Treatment
Group
(Used Tutors)
|
Control
Group
|
| Pre-Test
Score |
53.9
|
53.6
|
| Post-Test
Score |
74.3
|
61.5
|
| Improvement |
+20.4
|
+7.9
|
| *Out
of a maximum of 100 points. For complete published research results,
contact Dr. Benny Johnson at [email protected]. |
"I certainly wasn't a skeptic, but I
must admit, I was surprised with the results," commented Kevin Willis,
Chemistry Teacher and research participant at Carmichaels Area Junior/Senior
High School. "The group of students using the Tutor drastically improved
performance even with the most difficult problems."
"The clear differences in the various
trends in the treatment and control group's performance observed in
these studies at the high school level indicate that the Quantum Tutor
improved student ability to balance chemical equations, further validating
the AI-based approach Quantum® has developed," added Selma Sax, Senior
Evaluator at the Wexford Institute, a nonprofit educational agency
evaluating the Quantum Tutors® and Automatic Grading/Assessment Tool.
To provide an accurate assessment of
student knowledge and comprehension, all student work in the study
at Carmichaels was graded using a new automatic grading/assessment
technology developed by Quantum®. Utilizing Quantum's patented artificial
intelligence technology, the tool evaluates every step in the student's
work and assigns partial credit, rather than simply grading whether
an answer is right or wrong as with multiple-choice tests.
Mr. Willis used the new assessment technology
during the research and commented, "The automatic grading/assessment
tool is able to gather more information about a student's actual understanding
of a concept than traditional by-hand grading, not to mention, it
is more accurate! This feedback is important to the teacher and student
alike."
According to validation studies, the
AI grader has been established as significantly more accurate and
reliable than teachers grading by hand. For the student, the grading/assessment
software automatically grades the student's work and provides immediate,
detailed feedback as well as tutoring help on topics and concepts
needed to improve future test scores. For the teacher, the software
eliminates the administrative time and human error and fatigue associated
with grading papers, while providing teachers with real-time data
for analyzing how the class performed on the concepts tested with
drill-down detail to each individual student's work. This on-demand
assessment is particularly useful as states struggle with increasing
graduation requirements in science, standards-based instruction and
high-stakes testing.
The research studies conducted at Carmichaels
Area Junior/Senior High School in western Pennsylvania is part of
a national research effort in collaboration with the Wexford Institute,
a nationally recognized nonprofit agency dedicated to creating equitable
and excellent educational opportunities for all learners, to measure
the effectiveness of the Quantum Tutors® and new automated AI-based
grading/assessment technology in preparation for the No Child Left
Behind (NCLB) science assessments in 2007. Research funding for these
studies is provided by the U.S. Department of Education and the National
Science Foundation.
About Quantum®
Quantum Simulations, Inc. develops artificial intelligence (AI) tutoring,
assessment and professional development software that empowers teachers
and inspires students from middle school through college to improve
their knowledge and appreciation for the sciences. Teacher tested
and approved by educators across the United States, Quantum's AI software
is proven in research studies to improve comprehension, problem solving
skills and test scores by as much as 50%. Quantum's intelligent tutoring
engines are integrated with existing web-based learning products,
providing a strong competitive edge for distributing partners. A "technology
think tank", Quantum® is funded and supported by the U.S. Department
of Education, the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes
of Health. For a virtual demonstration of the Quantum Tutors®, visit
www.quantumsimulations.com/demo.html.
To subscribe to the software, visit www.quantumsimulations.com/partners.html
for a list of distributing partners.
###
