Understand Interview Reflections: Khan Academy PSAT Review

Understand Interview Reflections:  Khan Academy PSAT Review

Brad Griffith - November 10, 2016

For this entry, I selected Khan Academy's (KA) online PSAT review course and met with my colleague, Rhonda to tell the story of how learning occurs in this environment.  For those that aren't familiar, Khan Academy is an Open Educational Resource that features courses in multiple areas for all levels of learning, from elementary school to higher education.  When I advised students, I referred them to this resource and received good feedback, especially since it's mobile device friendly.

Here's a screenshot of the course home page:

As you can see by glancing here, there is a practice schedule, skill level assessment, room for testing scores imported by College Board, and practice, tips and strategies, and full tests at the top of the screen.

In order to create a LEM model for this KA course, I acted like a student and followed all the steps until I reached an understanding of how the evidence of learning (in this case, completion of the review course and recommendation to take the full exam) occurred.  Here is my model:

I began by telling Rhonda that the outcome of this learning environment was a learner completing the review course and being told they are prepared to sit for the PSAT exam.  We then went back to the beginning and worked through each step.  The model was particularly useful in representing how students with different characteristics would flow through this learning environment.  KA customizes a lesson plan for each student.  Some students had completed the PSAT already and could have their scores imported into this system.  Those that had not attempted the PSAT are administered a diagnostic quiz that informs the system action of generating this lesson plan.

The learner also has to provide information regarding scheduling so that a plan of study can be created according to their scheduled/desired PSAT testing date, ability to dedicate time to studying, and number of requested practice exams throughout the course.

Once the curriculum is set for the student, they receive feedback on their progress from the system and the system will continue to adjust the plan of study to account for areas of strength and weakness.

This was one of the more complex models I have constructed thus far, but Rhonda and I agreed that it helped to visually represent and simplify the dynamic structure of KA's course.  If you just look at this model, you can tell it is a feedback-oriented environment.  Their system is designed in a way that makes it instantaneous for the learner and won't inhibit their rate of progress.  I think that's quite admirable in this case since the environment is fully online and asynchronous.