California community college algebra instructors are invited to participate in a research study in 2016-17. Accepting new participants until July 30.

There are many web-based tools for teaching developmental/elementary algebra. However, we need evidence to know: What works? For whom? Under what conditions?

WestEd researchers seek to answer these questions for community college algebra learning. The U.S. Department of Education has funded a study exploring the effectiveness of the redesigned Khan Academy “Algebra Basics Mission” as instructional resources.

Khan Academy is a free, web-based learning environment that includes adaptive problem sets, instructional videos, and tools for instructors to use in providing individualized assignments to students. With more than 6 million users worldwide, Khan Academy is one of the most widely used online learning environments.

However, until now, there has never been a rigorous, large-scale study of the efficacy of Khan Academy for learning mathematics. WestEd’s randomized controlled trial takes place during the 2015/16 and 2016/17 academic years.

Researchers are now recruiting instructors from California community colleges who will teach elementary (first year) algebra in fall 2016.