An essential part of putting achievement within reach for all learners is improving student outcomes. See the results that students and instructors are achieving with alta.

How alta helps students achieve mastery

How alta helps students achieve mastery

Alta is designed to help students master key concepts covered in their course.

When students complete an assignment in alta, they show that they’re proficient in the learning objectives that are supported by that assignment. If a student struggles to complete an assignment, our adaptive technology diagnoses and remediates that student's knowledge gaps with personalized content and assessment that will help them achieve proficiency.

By helping students achieve proficiency, alta prepares students to demonstrate mastery with their performance on summative assessments.

How alta helps students achieve mastery
Johns Hopkins University study: Alta makes an impact

Johns Hopkins University study: Alta makes an impact

Johns Hopkins University study: Alta makes an impact

We go to great lengths to be as transparent as possible about alta’s impact on learning outcomes. But even we can admit, we may not be the most objective source on the matter.

To get a fresh, unbiased perspective on alta’s efficacy, we shared our comprehensive, anonymized data with the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University. We asked their research team to devise a study to assess the impact of alta on student outcomes like quiz and test scores, future assignment completion and retention.

Their conclusion? Alta makes an impact on learning outcomes for students of all ability levels.

View the Johns Hopkins University report on alta’s impact

Knewton’s 2017 Data Insights

To measure alta’s impact on mastery, Knewton analyzed the results of more than 10,000 students who used alta in 2017. Here’s a look at our findings.

alta brings higher completion rates

Students using alta demonstrate proficiency by completing assignments at high rates. 87% of the time, students using alta demonstrated proficiency by completing their assignments. Of students who struggled with an assignment, 82% ultimately completed it.

alta delivers better performance

Completing alta assignments is directly correlated with better performance on summative assessments. Students using alta who had not yet completed an assignment scored an average of 55% on related course assessments, while students who completed their assignment scored an average of 81%.

alta helps students who need it most

Alta provides the biggest benefit to students who need it most. For struggling students, completing assignments in Alta led to an average assessment score increase of 38 points, from 40% to 78% correct, helping them gain ground on their peers.

What our instructors are saying

“I like the ease of use, creating assignments, and connection with LMS. The statistics materials in alta are excellent for an online statistics course, and the courseware is user friendly for both students and instructors.”

- Claude Moore, stats instructor, Cape Fear Community College

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“I’ve taught my course for roughly 10 years. When I started using alta, I did a quick survey. About 85% of the students feel that with using alta, they are achieving higher learning goals, and they're more confident in their skills.”

- Donna Jean, chemistry instructor, Park University - Parkville Campus

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“One major factor was the number of conceptual question that alta uses; many times textbooks ask excellent numerical-based problems, but rarely do they ask the essential conceptual questions that probe if the student understands why they are doing the problem.”

- Eric Villa, chemistry instructor, Creighton University

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“When it came time for the final during my first semester using alta, my classroom was full. It was just amazing to me. And my students didn’t just stay and take the final, they passed with flying colors.”

- Kristi Rieg, math instructor, Merced College

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“Students like it! They seem much more willing to work through the problems in alta than in other formats that I have used for homework in the past.”

- Daniel R. Crane, chemistry instructor, University of Northwestern - Saint Paul

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“I feel alta is better suited for students because it meets them where they are. Alta gave me the flexibility to teach any way I wanted because I wasn’t tied down to a book.”

- Faith Miller, math instructor, Macomb Community College

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“I chose alta for its adaptive learning, its affordability, and its ease of use. Calculus 1 requires a large amount of prerequisite material and there is significant variability in student preparedness. “

- Andras Balogh, math instructor, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

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“Alta’s simple explanations help students better understand their errors and correct solutions and reward students by moving them forward.”

- Jack Bartlett, math instructor, Carrington College

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“I had very positive comments from the students with regards to alta, especially from those who were repeating and had used the previous system.”

- Jeff Mack, chemistry instructor, California State University, Sacramento

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“In the very first quarter that we used it, the average grade in our quantitative reasoning course for all of our sections went from a 69% to a 71%. It's only a 2% increase, and to a lot of people, it doesn't seem like much. But for us, it turned students who got Ds into C students. It turned our C students into B students. It allowed everybody just to move up a little bit.”

- Andrew Moore, math instructor, National Louis University

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“Alta has allowed my students to get credit for homework that helps increase their knowledge, because they work to mastery. My attendance rate is going up, my engagement rate has gone up. In class, we can work on more group activities and individual assignments based on real world situations. Before alta, we weren’t able to do that.”

G. Tashbin, math and statistics instructor, University of Mobile

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“My favorite thing about alta is knowing that my students are engaging with course material outside of class. In the past, I couldn’t guarantee that students were reading the book or even thinking about my class. Thanks to the seamless integration with my LMS, I can see when they’ve completed their assignments and I know that they are working toward mastery on their own time and will be ready for class.”

- Jesse Kurtz-Nicholl, economics instructor, Central Oregon Community College

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I chose alta in my class because of the adaptive functionality and the low cost to students. It has always been a balancing act to assign enough homework so that the broad range of students in my classes get enough practice without creating extra “busywork.”

- Shawn Shields, chemistry instructor, Germanna Community College

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“ Alta was the only option that adapted to my individual students’ areas of weakness. By incorporating alta into my classes, I’ve given my students a platform that addresses their specific needs!

Sharon North, math and statistics instructor, St. Louis Community College

Read Sharon's full story

 

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