Assessing the Benefit of Productive Struggle in an Online Learning Platform

• In Event: Growth-Oriented Responses to Failure and Challenge

Abstract

Many popular online educational platforms are designed according to principles of learning science. However, because these principles were established in face-to-face settings and because these platforms are often expensive, it is critical to understand how learning sciences principles transfer to online environments. We investigated the extent to which one such principle, productive struggle, benefitted students on one platform (IXL). Using a pretest-posttest design, we examined IXL usage and math achievement among 2,376 K-12 students in one school district. We found that platform usage indicating productive struggle had a larger positive impact on achievement than platform usage where no struggle was evident. These results suggest that productive struggle does indeed transfer to online settings; implications for educators are discussed.

Authors

• Christina C Schonberg, IXL Learning

• Xiaozhu An, IXL Learning

• Mary Hargis, IXL Learning

• Bozhidar M. Bashkov, IXL Learning