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Reducing DFW rates with Edfinity

Overview

The DFW rate is the percentage of students in a course who receive a D/F grade or withdraw (W), and is a key metric for an institution aiming to close equity gaps.

Edfinity addresses two crucially unfulfilled needs that contribute to increased DFW rates:

  1. Educators teaching large-enrollment courses lack intuitive tools and timely data for early identification of at-risk students in need of intervention. It is impractically time-consuming for educators to individually identify and engage with students to get them back on track.
  2. Students struggle without just-in-time instructional support with homework when they need it the most. Research shows that this leads to frustration, disengagement, and poor learning outcomes. Student tutoring centers and instructor office hours do not synchronize adequately with student habits and schedules.

To address these issues, Edfinity provides two powerful tools with statistical evidence of effectiveness: Performance Alerts and OfficeHours.

Performance Alerts (Available Fall 2024)

Performance Alerts allows educators to define automated alerts to identify at-risk/struggling students based on their Edfinity assignment performance. Subsequently, Edfinity automatically sends the relevant students an email template customized by the educator as a first step towards intervention to get the students back on track.

Performance Alerts is pre-configured with a library of research-backed alerts and email templates that are easily customizable and is 100% FERPA-compliant.

Example Alert #1:

DFW_Reduction_Toolkit.jpg

Example Alert #2:

DFW_Reduction_Toolkit__1_.jpg

OfficeHours

OfficeHours simulates live instructional support by providing conversational, step-by-step solution walkthroughs for randomized equivalents of homework problems that students struggle with.

In stark contrast to typical problem solutions, OfficeHours walkthroughs conversationally guide students through the problem-solving approach with questions and hints that fortify conceptual understanding. In other words, OfficeHours strives to mimic the support provided by educators to students who come to their office hours.

OfficeHours walkthroughs are created using AI-language models and refined by math educators.

Statistical Evidence of Effectiveness

  1. Edfinity has conducted rigorous statistical analysis to establish the effectiveness of OfficeHours by analyzing a large sample (n = 75,000) of students on Edfinity, approximately half of which used OfficeHours.
  2. Two-sample one-sided t-tests* (with significance level α = 5%) established:
    • A statistically significant increase in assignment scores for students using OfficeHours (t = 2.48; p < .01)
    • A statistically significant increase in assignment completion rates for students using OfficeHours (t = 2.51; p < .01)
  3. Edfinity also conducted two-sample t-interval analysis to determine 95% confidence intervals for the increase in assignment scores and assignment completion rates:
      1. 95% confidence interval for increase in assignment scores for students using Office Hours: (17.3%, 24.6%)
      2. 95% confidence interval for increase in assignment completion rates for students using Office Hours: (19.3%, 23.2%)

OfficeHours Example Walkthough #1: Precalculus/College Algebra 

 

OfficeHours Example Walkthough #2: Calculus

 

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