The Research Behind WriteToLearn: Building Student Summarization, Writing and Reading Comprehension Skills with Guided Practice and Automated Feedback

Abstract

WriteToLearn™ is a Web-based teaching tool that combines summary and essay writing activities. Used for both instruction and assessment, WriteToLearn is the only writing development product that gives students the immediate, targeted feedback necessary to develop the reading comprehension and writing skills that are critical for academic success.

With WriteToLearn, students practice essay and summary writing skills, and their efforts are measured by the state-of-the-art Knowledge Analysis Technologies™ (KAT) engine. The KAT engine is a unique automated assessment technology that evaluates the meaning of text, not just grammatical correctness or spelling.

Researchers from the University of Colorado Institute of Cognitive Science evaluated the summarization tool over the course of a five-year study funded by the Interagency Education Research Initiative, a collaborative effort sponsored by the National Science Foundation, The U.S. Department of Education and the National Institutes of Health.

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