All 27 Studies Done with ASSISTments

ASSISTments has been used in more than 27 published randomized controlled experiments investigating ways to improve student learning.

Of these, 13 were conducted with 17 other universities.

Of those, Heffernan conducted 8 in collaboration with others, while 5 were conducted without Heffernan authorship (via the ASSISTmentsTestbed).

Summaries and full-text versions of these publications are available at the links below.

1. Comparing experimental feedback conditions with "business as usual" control conditions in which students get feedback the next day

   1. Estimating the effect of web-based homework with University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC)

   2. Does immediate feedback while doing homework improve learning

   3. Improving learning from homework using intelligent tutoring systems with West Virginia University

2. Showing that ASSISTments closes gaps between lower-achieving and higher-achieving students

• 1. ASSISTments attempt to personalize learning led to better learning

  2. ASSISTments closes achievement gaps by Vanderbilt University

3. Comparing hints, step-by-step scaffolding questions, solutions, and worked examples

• 1. Feedback during web-based homework: the role of hints

  2. What level of tutor interaction is best?

  3. Scaffolding vs. Hints

  4. Is it better to give hints or let students ask?

  5. What features of hints matter? with Carnegie Mellon University, Columbia University, and University of Pennsylvania

  6. Counterintuitive effects of online feedback in middle school math: results from a randomized controlled trial in ASSISTments by University of Colorado & University of Maine

4. Comparing worked examples to step-by-step feedback

• 1. Are worked examples an effective feedback mechanism during problem-solving?

  2. Two experiments related to tutored problem solving vs. “pure” worked examples with Seton Hall University, Carnegie Mellon, and Albert Einstein College of Medicine

  3. A novel technique to analyze experiments that have no posttest

5. Comparing different videos intended for motivational benefits

• 1. Adding teacher-created motivational videos to an intelligent tutoring system with University of Notre Dame

  2. Mayer's multimedia principles at use in K12

  3. Giving students a choice causes more learning

6. Comparing connecting with parents to a control

• 1. Homework completion rates increased when parents were connected

7. Comparing the difficulty of different problem types

• 1. The effect of language modification of mathematics story problems on problem-solving in ASSISTments By Southern Methodist University & University of North Dakota

8. Comparing different instructional approaches

• 1. Comparing discovery learning with direct instruction: Replicating (and extending) the famous Klahr and Nigam result

  2. Blocking vs. interleaving: Does skill pattern matter? With Carleton College

  3. Does asking students to self-report their confidence affect their performance? With Harvard University

  4. Seeing language learning inside the math: cognitive analysis yields transfer By Carnegie Mellon University

  5. Labeling common and uncommon fractions across notation and education University of Chicago & Boston College

9. Comparing the Automatic Reassessment and Relearning System(ARRS) feature with other options

• 1. Comparing Automatic Reassessment and Relearning System with one-time Mastery Learning University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC)

  2. Comparing different schedules of spacing schedules

  3. Comparing ARRS with an adaptive ARRS version called PASS for personalized spacing schedules

Heffernan, C. (2017)