SBIR Phase I: A Student Learning Dashboard

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛的商业影响是改善高等教育的保留率和提高毕业率。目前，美国大学的平均辍学率为40%。此外，服务不足的科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)学生群体更有可能离开学校而没有学位。由于新冠肺炎的流行，日益加剧的经济不安全感和心理健康挑战对学生的学习产生了负面影响。该项目旨在开发一个学生学习仪表板平台，通过提供有针对性的、个性化的和实时的可操作帮助，在学生的高等教育学习旅程中充当副飞行员。该解决方案全面确定了每个学生独特的学习动机挑战(例如，科目难度、与职业目标的相关性、社会和经济限制等)。并提供了克服障碍的具体建议。指导学生学习如何根据自己的情况更有效地学习，有助于培养他们成长的心态、毅力和能力，帮助他们成为成功的终身学习者。该应用程序还显著提高了高等教育的多样性、公平性和包容性，特别是在STEM，从而增加了有效的劳动力培训。这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目使用机器学习来了解每个学生独特的学习挑战，绘制出障碍如何影响学习动机，并影响课程敬业度。机器学习用于分析定性和定量的学习动机和行为数据，以确定差距，以便在学生仍在课程中进步的同时提供实时、有针对性的相关指导，而不是等到干预可能为时已晚。该项目提供描述性、预测性和说明性建议，以较低的成本大规模模拟一对一的个性化建议。这项技术还可以作为一种早期检测系统，当学生表现出影响他们学习准备精神状态的学术和非学术斗争的第一个迹象时。当需要面对面的人为干预时，可以提醒讲师、学术建议和/或相关的校园学生支持服务。该项目可供任何提供面对面、翻转/混合、远程、同步或异步教学格式的教育机构或私人公司使用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader/commercial impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is in improving retention in higher education and increasing graduation rates. Currently, the average U.S. college dropout rate is 40%. Moreover, underserved Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) student populations are more likely to leave school without a degree. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, increased financial insecurity and mental health challenges have negatively impacted student learning. This project aims to develop a student learning dashboard platform that acts as a co-pilot during students' higher education learning journey by delivering targeted, personalized, and real-time actionable assistance. The solution holistically identifies each student's unique learning motivation challenges (e.g., subject difficulty, relevance to career goals, social and economic constraints, etc.) and provides specific recommendations to overcome barriers. Coaching students to learn how to learn more effectively based on their own context fosters a growth mindset, grit, and agency to help them become successful lifelong learners. The application also significantly improves diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education, especially in STEM, and thus increases effective workforce training. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project uses machine learning to understand each student's unique learning challenges, map how barriers affect learning motivation, and influences coursework engagement. Machine learning is applied to analyze qualitative and quantitative learning motivation and behavior data to identify gaps so real-time, targeted, and relevant guidance can be delivered while the students are still progressing through the courses rather than waiting until it might be too late for intervention. This project provides descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive recommendations to simulate one-on-one, personalized advising at scale and at a lower cost. The technology also acts as an early detection system when students show the first sign of academic and non-academic struggles affecting their mental state of readiness to learn. When in-person human intervention is required, instructors, academic advising, and/or relevant on-campus student support services can be alerted. This project can be used by any educational institution or private company providing in-person, flipped/hybrid, remote, synchronous, or asynchronous instruction formats.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.