Questions Surround Software that Adapts to Students

Although the intricacies of human psychology may never be fully explained, Internet companies seem to have some parts of it figured out. By tracking millions of users, Google, Facebook, and the gaming company Zynga have learned how to position every “I agree” button, text box, and virtual cow to entice people to click. A company called Knewton, in New York City, is now trying to use similar techniques in service of an arguably more laudable goal—helping students learn faster.

The startup, founded in 2008, offers courses like SAT preparation and remedial math that are mostly aimed at people about to start or return to college. They are offered online by schools including Arizona State University. Last November, Knewton signed a deal to use its technology in digital classes being produced by the educational giant Pearson. “When a student takes a course powered by Knewton, we are continuously evaluating their performance, what others have done with that material before, and what [they] know,” says David Kuntz, VP of research at Knewton. He is a veteran of the education business who pioneered the introduction of computer algorithms to the design of standardized tests, like the LSAT. Knewton calls its approach “adaptive learning,” and tracking which questions a student gets right or wrong is just the starting point. Knewton, which has raised $54 million in investments, says its software also monitors how long students take to answer a question and whether they revisit it, and even draws clues from a student’s mouse movements. “We know if they are waving their mouse around trying to decide between option A and C,” says Kuntz.