Roughly one in six adults in the U.S. has literacy skills at a low level of proficiency. Many seek instruction through adult education programs. However, these programs may be under-resourced, lack appropriate instructional materials, and have instructors with few professional development resources. AutoTutor-ARC is an intelligent tutoring system that supports adults who read at 3rd- to 8th-grade levels as they learn and practice reading comprehension strategies. It provides students additional reading practice and embeds instruction-based assessment to help guide and monitor learning progress. The system includes digital literacy skill support for learners, as well as professional development support for teachers/tutors.
The research team is enhancing the usability, accessibility, and engagement of the AutoTutor-ARC system for adult literacy learners and instructors, and testing the usability and feasibility of updates. They will then run a pilot study of the fully developed intervention to determine its effectiveness, and work to promote broader access to and use of the system to reach more adult learners.
Our Team
This project is led by the University of Memphis, and partners in the work include Georgia State University and Educational Testing Service.
This project is supported by the Institute of Education Sciences at the U.S. Department of Education through Award #R305A200413.
