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"Quite simply, the ASSISTmentsTestBed is a dream come true for a researcher interested in student learning." from Virginia Clinton, University of North Dakota.

News: The first two publications have just come out.  The ASSISTmentsTestBed Shared Scientific Instrument is getting used by external researcher to do science.  You can read their peer-reviewed publications here and here.  10 others studies are in the pipeline.


This website will guide you through the Stages for Research with ASSISTments.

ASSISTments Mission: To improve education through scientific research while not compromising student learning time. 

ASSISTments Vision: In classrooms everywhere, continuously improve teaching and learning through the use of validated educational research findings and applied technology.


Dear Fellow Researcher,

For years I and my colleagues were using ASSISTments to do our research. I have completed and published dozens of studies with researchers at many places (e.g., NotreDame, SRI, UIC, Harvard, Stanford, CMU etc). Our companion site ASSISTments as a Research Tool will give you an overview of many of these studies. But now NSF funded a grant to allow me to make it easier for you, an "external" researcher (i.e., people that are not already friends of mine!), to propose your own studies that will run on ASSISTments. We call this the ASSISTments TestBed. The ASSISTments TestBed uses ASSISTments.org, but it is different. 

This website is designed to help you to strategically and easily move your research project from idea to publication. You will learn how to work with your own teachers and students or work with our subject pool. You can count on us to provide support for managing the IRB process. Since you never see the student's names your IRB process is simplified. 

I want to also tell you that WPI and I are committed to giving away ASSISTments.org and the TestBed for free forever. This is a university affiliated non-profit project. All of the intellectual property is owned by WPI. We have turned down many offers to buy or commercialize ASSISTments. Why? Because of you the researcher and the teachers who use our tool. My vocation in life is to build a system that both helps researchers but also make for a better free tool for teachers. 

You are a researcher, you may want to read about our work. Start with this paper on the backstory of ASSISTments then move on to this paper on the ASSISTments TestBed. 

I know I will have much greater impact if I can “get out of the loop”. I would like to see hundreds of researchers across the country run their own studies within ASSISTments.

When you are ready to talk about how to fit your research question into the TestBed, introduce yourself to us and we can find a time to talk.

Sincerely, 

Neil Heffernan 


Site credits: K. Ostrow & C. Heffernan, 2015