The Affinity Learning Project
The National Center for Information Technology in Education
(NCITE) at the University
of Nebraska-Lincoln
requests National Science Foundation support through a Small Grant for
Exploratory Research (SGER) to continue development of the Affinity Learning System. Affinity was originally developed by
NCITE through an NSF CCLI proof-of-concept grant (NSF DUE # 9950349). Designed and validated as a mechanism for
student-centered online course delivery, Affinity has also proven very
effective as an educational research tool. Affinity lessons are developed by
decomposing a topic into elements or “learning nodes” containing content
presentation and assessment. The
learning nodes are interconnected to implement a progression of learning and,
when necessary, to correct student misconceptions through remediation or
augmentation. Experiments using Affinity
have given surprising insight into student learning strategies and
misconceptions. Affinity has high potential to benefit research, inform
educators, and improve online education.
Despite significant potential to advance the state of the art, the
inherent complexity of the current content/assessment authoring interface and
the intrinsic challenge of decomposing lessons into learning components
(“facets”) prevent generalized use and application by STEM educators. Resolving
specific development difficulties for a generalized educational research and
delivery software system does not fit neatly into a standard program funding
category. Although some risk exists, NCITE feels that focused research and
development can overcome the current barriers.