THINKING HABITATS LLC — Department of Agriculture SBIR Phase II: 8.6

Description

The Phase II project will research and develop the Front Porch Experience an online learningmodule to increase the capacity of rural high school students to use written local news reports as aknowledge source to make informed decisions. Over 66% of rural high school students in the U.S.do not have the reading comprehension and critical thinking strategies necessary to read andanalyze informational text (NCES 2018) let alone enough knowledge and motivation to engagein decision-making processes that matter to their professional personal and civic lives. The FrontPorch Experience is a turnkey solution for ELA and social studies teachers to systematicallydevelop students' capacities for reading comprehension critical thinking news media literacy andcivic engagement by harnessing an interactive student-centered curriculum. Thus students willnot only develop the capability of informed decision-making in a way that matters to their younglives in rural America but also contribute directly to the workforce development in their localeconomies. In Phase I we researched and developed a minimum viable product of the onlinemodule. The Phase I R&D testing established the technical feasibility of the module's interactivevideos with more than 84% of students demonstrating proficiency in reading comprehension andcritical thinking strategies. It also established the technical usability of the module for teachers asall teachers used 80% or more of the module's technical and curricular features and were able toadapt the flexible curriculum to suit their discipline-specific goals rural student needs andpersonal teaching styles. Our Phase I results demonstrated a robust and comprehensive proof ofconcept for the technical feasibility and usability of the online module and indicated areas foroptimization. In Phase II R&D we will conduct a repeated design to continuously optimize theexisting curriculum and technical components of the online module and develop a new teachercompanion website. The Phase II R&D consists of four technical objectives: 1) expansion andoptimization of the online module's technical and curricular components; 2) development of ateacher companion website as a resource to support teachers' implementation of the module; 3)technical usability testing of the online module with teachers in the classroom; and 4) a two-yearmulti-site analysis of the module's impact on student learning and engagement. Qualitative andquantitative methods will be used to collect data in a Learning Lab and authentic classroom settingsin three different rural school districts.Phase II R&D will culminate in an optimized and expanded version of the Front Porch Experienceready for commercial release. The two-year multi-site research will demonstrate the usability ofthe online module for teachers and assess student learning gains and engagement. This will allowus to develop a robust online turnkey solution for teachers that is easily scalable has a responsivemobile app and a teacher support website and is ready for commercial release at the end of PhaseII. Our detailed usability analyses with teachers measurable proficiency scores and increasedstudent engagement levels will provide compelling data for purchasing curriculum directors andschool administrators. 62800 rural high school teachers teaching 2.9M rural high school studentsannually nationwide will be targeted with a rapid product rollout through partnerships withprofessional teacher networks and national newspaper associations and a long-term approach usingcase studies testimonials and referrals (including a website social media and sales collaterals).