Stanford PERTS Challenges Researchers to Boost Motivation and Achievement in Online Learning Environments
Stanford, CA (PRWEB) January 29, 2014 -- The Stanford University Project for Education Research That Scales (PERTS) is pleased to invite researchers to submit proposals for a new initiative aimed at exploring ways to raise student motivation and achievement by blending technology and behavioral science.
Specifically, the Mindset Challenge seeks proposals for research projects that apply techniques to boost students’ motivation and beliefs about learning -- which have demonstrated positive, measurable impacts on academic outcomes -- in new online learning environments that are accessed daily by tens of thousands of students.
This novel opportunity is possible thanks to generous cooperation from three of the largest providers of online learning environments – Khan Academy, the Florida Virtual School and Kaplan University – each of which have agreed to work with PERTS to implement brief, non-intrusive studies that will respect students’ privacy while helping them get more out of their online coursework.
Khan Academy will help participating researchers implement and evaluate new mindset interventions in its large body of online math exercises.
Florida Virtual School will help participating researchers implement and evaluate new mindset interventions in several of its largest math courses, each with several thousand students.
Kaplan University will help participating researchers implement and evaluate new mindset interventions in several of its largest online courses.
All three online learning providers are interested in finding new ways to motivate students to persevere in the face of challenges and to achieve greater mastery of the subjects they are studying.
The Mindset Challenge is part of a research agenda launched in response to a White House convening in May 2013 on The Importance of Academic Mindsets, which recognized the potential for brief, carefully designed "mindset interventions" to improve student outcomes broadly and cost-effectively.
Funding for the Mindsets Challenge is provided by the Raikes Foundation, which also sponsored last year’s White House convening.
The deadline for proposals to participate in the Mindsets Challenge is April 1, 2014. Proposals should be e-mailed to challenge(at)perts(dot)net with the subject line “Mindset Challenge Proposal.” For additional information and more specific guidance on proposals, please visit the Mindset Challenge web site: http://www.perts.net/challenge.
PERTS is an applied research center at Stanford University that works with leading experts on academic motivation to raise student achievement on a large scale.
David Paunesku, PERTS, http://www.perts.net/challenge, +1 (312) 576-7122, [email protected]
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