KhanAcademyCaseStudy
byScottHolbrook,Instructor,NashuaCommunityCollege
Overview
IworkasanadjunctinstructorfordevelopmentalmathematicsatNashuaCommunityCollege(NCC)in
Nashua,NewHampshire.Myobjectiveistohelpremediatestudents’algebraskillssothattheycanbe
preparedforcollege-levelmathcourses.
NCCispartoftheCommunityCollegeSystemofNewHampshire(CCSNH)–asystemcomprisedofseven
separatecollegesallwiththesameeducationalgoal.Weofferawidevarietyofprograms,spanningthe
liberalartsconcentrationstomachinetooltechnologyandautomotiverepair.HereatNCC,theaverage
enrollmentatthestartofaneducationalyearisabout2200.93%ofourstudentscomeinwithahigh
schooldiplomaandtherestwithaGED.About67%choosetobepart-timestudents.Theaverageage
ofourstudentbodyis26-years-old,76%ofwhichiswhitenon-Hispanic.
ThiscasestudywilloutlinethesuccessIhavehadwithusingKhanAcademyasasupplementaltoolto
helpstudentssuccessfullycompletemathplacementtests.
TheKhanAcademyBootCamp
Ihaveaparticularinterestinutilizingeducationalwebsitestoenhancelearning,somostofmycourses
aretaughtinamathematicslabwherestudentsgainimmediateaccesstotheirowncomputeranda
hybridlearningenvironment.Assignmentscanbedoneinclassorathome.Becauseofmyexperience
withthiskindofclassroomformat,IreceivedaproposalfromtheNewEnglandBoardofHigher
Education(NEBHE)toinitiateacompressed,mathematicsworkshopwhichwoulduseKhanAcademy.
Eventually,weagreedthatthis“BootCamp”wouldbe8-dayslong,spanningMondaythroughThursday
fortwoconsecutiveweeksand3hoursessionsatatime.Itwouldbecompletelyfreeforstudents,and
thesummativeassessmentattheendoftheentireprogram,whichwouldtestoverallmasteryand
competencyofthetopicslearned,wouldbetheAccuplacer–amathplacementtest.
ThepurposeoftheBootCampwassimple,butconcernsarose–wasitpossibleforstudentstoengage
inan8-daymath-intensiveworkshop,withKhanAcademyasthelearningmedium,andbeprepared
enoughtopassamathplacementtest?Andevenifstudentsdidn’tpass,wouldthecrashcoursebe
sufficientwouldstudentsbeadequatelypreparedtotransitionintosubsequentcollegelevelmath
courses?Afterall,studentswouldseeanentiresemester’sworthofmaterialin8days.
THEPLAN:Makeanitinerary!
InthecontextofthisBootCamp,askingstudentstoblindlyuseKhanAcademyontheirowntolearn
whattheyneedgetsnothingaccomplishedasthereissimplynofocusordirection.Mysolutionwasto
enterthemathportionofKhanAcademyandscanhoursofvideosandhundredsofproblemsetstofind
therightmaterialforthisworkshop.Cherry-pickingthebestvideosandexercisesoutofarichlibraryof
contentprovedtobeverychallengingandtime-consuming,butIwaseventuallyabletoconstructadaily
itineraryforstudentstofollowinaconsecutiveorder.Duetoconstantlinkchangesandadditionsmade
byKhanAcademy,contentwithinmyBootCampitinerarywasalwayschanging.Thissituationhasbeen
largelymitigatedbytheadditionofMissionsandcompletedKhanAcademyworkonmappingtothe
CommonCore.
THEIMPLEMENTATION
AfterseveralweeksofdiscussingtheblueprintoftheBootCampwithNEBHEandputtingallthepieces
togetherwiththerightvideosandexercisesets,anitinerarywascompleteandasyllabuswasformed.
TheentiresyllabuscanbefoundHEREunder“AdditionalResources”withthename“Nashua
CommunityCollegeSummerBootCampSyllabus”;anexcerptofitcanbeseenbelow:
Day
Material to be covered
1
-Order of Operations
-Operations on Fractions
What to Search
! Introduction to order of operations (9:40)
! Order of operations example (4:26)
" Order of operations
-Like/Unlike Terms
-Distributive Property
! Multiplying negative and positive fractions (4:33)
! Examples of dividing negative fractions (4:11)
" Dividing positive and negative fractions
! Adding fractions with like denominators (3:18)
! Adding fractions with unlike denominators (4:06)
! Subtracting fractions with unlike denominators (4:24)
" Adding and subtracting fractions
! Combining like terms (4:33)
! Combining like terms and simplifying expressions (3:42)
! Combining like terms, but more complicated (4:39)
! Combining like terms and the distributive property (4:07)
" Combining like terms with distribution
ThechartaboveisanimageofDay1ofan8dayschedulefortheBootCamp.Studentsbeganwiththe
IntroductiontoorderofoperationsvideoandendedwiththeexercisesetCombiningliketermswith
distribution.Studentswereinstructedtowatchthevideos(denotedbya!)andthencompletean
exerciseset(denotedbya")relatedtothevideos,followingthedescendingorder.Tofindthese
videosandexercises,studentswouldtypethetitlesintotheKhanAcademysearchfield.Ataminimum,
studentswererequiredtosuccessfullycompleteeachexercisesetoncebutwouldoftengobackto
completeitasecondorthirdtimetoestablishmasteryandconfidence.Duetotimeconstraints,Iwas
toassumemoststudentsalreadyknewhowtodothebasicslikeaddingandsubtractingintegers.This
explainswhytherearegapswithinthemateriallist.However,ifstudentsneededarefresherin
anythingnotlistedhere,Iwouldleadthemtoavideoandexercisesetassociatedwiththeirareaof
need.
StudentsdidpracticallyeverythingontheirownwithKhanAcademyguidingthem.Iwasthereforany
questionsorclarificationsaswellastomakesurethepaceoftheclasswasgoingsmoothly.Each
studenthadtheirowncomputertoworkwithinacomputerlab;theybroughtheadphonestolistento
thevideosandworkedoutproblemsetsonpaper.Further,ifstudentswantedtoworktogetherorstart
adiscussionaboutatopicIallowedthataswell.EveryBootCampIhaveparticipatedinhashadavery
laid-back,calm,andenjoyableatmosphere.Studentsappreciatethat.
THECLASS:Detailsanddata
Sincethesummerof2013,Ihaverun7BootCampswithanaverageenrollmentofabout9studentsper
workshop;thedemographicsoftheseBootCampsmirrorthatofNCCingeneral.ForeachBootCamp,I
haveabout2studentsdropafterafewdays,whichisunderstandablegiventhatthisprogramisnot
gradedandcompletelyvoluntary.But,forthestudentsthatstickwithitandworkhard,thereisclearly
adifferenceintheirmathcompetencyfrombeforetheyenteredtoafterthe8daysaredone.Iknow
thistobetruebasedontheirpreandpostBootCampAccuplacerresults!
BeforestudentsbeginexploringKhanAcademy,theyaddmeasaCoach.Thisisameansofseeing
wheretheymaybestrugglingsoIcaninterveneiftheydon’tcometomeforhelpinitially.Additionally,
thestatisticalanalysesaCoachreceivesontheirstudentshelpsusatNCCcorrelatecertainfactorsto
success;wenoticepatternsinstudentswhotestoutofoneormoredevelopmentalmathcoursesversus
thosewhodidn’t.OneimmediatethingInoticedisthatstudentswithahighEnergyPointsscore(inthe
highthousandsorgreater)almostalwaystestedoutofatleastonedevelopmentalmathcourseupon
completionoftheAccuplacer.Thismakessense,asEnergyPointsareaccumulatedwheneverastudent
watchesavideoorcompletesanexerciseset.AttendanceattheBootCampandconsistentpractice
withKhanAcademyduringthe8-dayspanwasalsocrucialforthosewhohavesucceededinthis
program.
Withall7BootCampsthathaverunthusfar,atleasthalfofallstudentstestoutofatleastoneormore
developmentalmathcourses.Thismeansthattheybypasspre-algebra,algebra,orbothupontheir
successfulcompletionoftheBootCampandAccuplacer.StudentswhogetthemostoutoftheBoot
Camparethosewithastrong,existingfoundationinmathwhichhelpsthemseamlesslynavigate
throughsuchacondensedworkshopinanefficientway.Regardlessofoutcome,everystudentthat
participatesgetssomethingoutofthisprogramthattheycantakewiththemastheycontinuetheir
educationinmath.
THERESPONSE:WhatstudentsthoughtofKhanAcademy
Manyofmystudentscomefromgenerationsbeforecomputer-basedhybridlearningwasprominent.
Somewerehesitanttouseacomputertolearnasubjectasintimidatingasmath,buttheuser-friendly
layoutofKhanAcademyandgame-likeaspectofthesitehookedmanystudentsimmediately.Withthe
itineraryIcreatedastheirmap,studentshadatracktofollowandknewwhattheyhadtodoto
succeed.StudentsgenerallylikethestructureandatmosphereoftheBootCamp.Someevencomeback
toparticipateinotherBootCampstorefreshandlearnnewthings.
AttheendofeveryBootCamp,studentsareaskedtocompleteasurveyandexplainwhattheyliked
and/ordislikedaboutKhanAcademyandtheBootCamp.Theresponseisalwaysoverwhelmingly
positive!BelowaresomeoftherepeatedinputsIreceive:
•
StudentslikethatthevideosonKhanAcademyarepresentedinafamiliarYouTubemedia
playerformatwithhigh-qualitypictureandsound.
•
StudentsliketheproblemsetsKhanAcademyoffers,astheycanpracticewiththeseexercisesas
manytimesasthey’dliketobuildandreinforceunderstanding.
•
StudentsliketheatmosphereoftheBootCamp,astheycanworkindividuallyattheirownpace
andaskforhelpwhenneeded.
•
Studentsdislikethattheyhavetosuccessfullycomplete8exercisesinarowpereachskillto
achievemastery,especiallyifittakesthemseveralminutestocompleteeachexercise(thishas
sincebeenfixedbyKhanAcademy).
Overall,studentsweregladtheyattendedtheprogramandmostdefinitelylearnedsomething
regardlessofthefinaloutcome.
Conclusion
LikeKhanAcademyasasite,theBootCamphereatNCChasevolvedforthebettersinceitsoriginal
inception.Forexample,theitineraryhaschangedtoincludenewerexercisesandvideosprovidedby
KhanAcademy;allarenowhyperlinkedintheworddocumentversionofthesyllabussostudentsare
oneclickawayfromthematerialinsteadofhavingtosearchforit.ThelengthoftheBootCamphas
alsobeenreducedtoa4-day,3-hourworkshopwhichstillrunsMonday-through-Thursday.Shortening
thetimeoftheBootCamphascausedanincreaseinenrollment,asitislessofatimecommitmentfor
students.Theshorterformatalsoledtoamuchtighteritinerarywhichnowonlyincludestheabsolute
essentials.AlteringthestructureoftheBootCamphasnotchangedtheintegrityoftheprogramorthe
results.Infact,I’dsaythechangeshavemadeitbetter!
Thisprogramhasbeenasuccess.AtleastonestudentperBootCamptestsintocollegelevelmathwith
afewotherstestingoutofpre-algebra.Onesuccessstoryonitsownisworthpraisingthevalueofthis
program,butseveralstudentspersessionfindthemselvessavinghundredsofdollarsandhoursoftime
justbycommittingtotheworkshop.
IamverygladtohaveparticipatedintheDevelopmentalMathDemonstrationProject,provingthat
KhanAcademyandashortamountoftimeisalloneneedstorefreshtheirpreviouslylearnedmathskills
andsuccessfullypassamathplacementtest.Itcontinuestobeaveryenjoyableexperienceformyself
andmystudents,aswestillrunseveralBootCampsperyearatNCC.Ihavegrownasaneducator
becauseofit,nowincludingmoreinternet-basedresourcesinmyothercoursesafterseeinghow
powerfultheycanbeasalearningtool.AsIgoforward,IplantocontinueusingKhanAcademyasa
resourceandwillsharemyexperiencesusingitwithotherssothatmaybetheytoocanseethesame
excellentresults.