Adaptive Courseware for Early Success Case Study: University of Texas El Paso

The Adaptive Courseware for Early Success (ACES) Initiative was a grant-funded initiative supported through the Every Learner Everywhere network. In total, thirteen colleges and universities from Ohio, Texas, and Florida participated in this initiative from 2019 through 2021. Six 4-year universities, which are members of the Association of Public Land-grant Universities (APLU) received direct guidance and support from the Personalized Learning Consortium (PLC), located in the Office of Digital Transformation for Student Success (DTSS).

The goals of ACES were:

• To redesign critical gateway courses taught by faculty committed to integrating equity-centered, evidence-based teaching practices that are enhanced by adaptive courseware
• To create more equitable student outcomes by improving learning and educational experiences for poverty-impacted students, racially minoritized students, and first-generation students

Over the course of two and a half years, the PLC provided intensive coaching, peer-mentorship, collaborative learning and networking opportunities, and educational resources and training to cross-functional, institutional teams at select institutions. These institutions received further support and benefits from the Every Learner network partners, including Achieving the Dream and Digital Promise who offered collaborative learning with participating two-year institutions and program evaluation support, respectively.

University leadership saw the ACES Initiative as an opportunity to increase and improve upon the quality and effectiveness of their implementation of adaptive learning courseware at the institution, prioritizing their focus on integration of courseware into a redesigned gateway course and scaling within a select academic program. By providing students with targeted quality information and instructing faculty with more data about student learning, they hoped to improve student performance and increase faculty efficiency in the delivery of high-enrollment gateway courses. Lastly, the UTEP team hoped to integrate adaptive courseware tools, open educational resources (OERs), and active learning within their planned course redesigns–viewing these combined resources and strategies to holistically support students enrolled in those courses.