ABSTRACT
Adaptive teaching uses data about a student’s previous and current learning to create a personalized path through educational content. No human teacher can track the actions of each student in a class, so adaptive teaching is usually done by students logging onto a computer system that provides the customized instruction. The computer sets a quiz at the start of the lesson to test knowledge of the topic. Some educators see adaptive teaching systems as providing flexible study options to students, particularly those struggling in remedial and general education courses, or students taking fully online classes. Adaptive teaching products have their roots in 1980s research into ‘intelligent tutoring systems’. Despite much progress, adaptive teaching faces barriers. A study of research into intelligent tutoring systems found strong positive outcomes compared to traditional teaching. But when adaptive teaching is taken into classrooms, the results are less promising.
