Press Releases
For Immediate Release
Contact: Al Renshaw
Phone: 1-800-577-9040
e-Mail: Al Renshaw
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AWARDS
QUANTUM SIMULATIONS, INC. $1.5 MILLION FOR CONTINUED RESEARCH AND
DEVELOPMENT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TUTORS
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania July
22, 2004 Quantum Simulations, Inc., developer of the Quantum Tutors®, an artificial intelligence (AI)-based tutoring software system
for student learning and teacher training, announced today that it
has been awarded a three-year federal grant for $1.5 million from
the U.S. Department of Education's Mathematics and Science Education
Research Program in support of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) initiative.
The grant will fund the research and development of new AI-based assessment
tools to assist chemistry and mathematics teachers in evaluating student
progress, by providing individualized feedback based on the student's
own work and objectively assessing student performance.
"Quantum® was selected out of hundreds
of proposals submitted to the Department of Education because of our
ability to improve student performance using proven teaching concepts
and technologies designed to motivate and inspire students to learn,"
commented Dr. Benny Johnson, President and CEO of Quantum Simulations,
Inc. and co-inventor of the company's patented AI technology. Research
conducted at the University of Kentucky, Duquesne University and the
Greene County school district in Pennsylvania, showed that students
who used the Quantum Tutors® to supplement their classroom and textbook
studies improved test scores by as much as 50%, specifically benefiting
those students who were having the most difficulty.
The new assessment features provide
additional power to the existing Quantum Tutors® and will include automated
grading, student and teacher assessment reports, which
provide detailed feedback on individual student learning and achievement,
and statistical analyses of assessment information on student
groups (e.g. comparative reports based on student, class, individual
school, school district, state, etc.).
"The Department of Education is firmly
committed to NCLB and our student assessment features will help ALL
students perform better in chemistry and mathematics, as well as give
teachers the long-awaited tools they need to spend more quality time
with students and less time doing paperwork," added Mr. Dale Holder,
Quantum's Chief Academic Officer and award-winning chemistry teacher
with more than 35 years of teaching experience.
The Quantum Tutors® are available for
middle-school through college-level topics in Chemistry and Applied Mathematics and are ideal for the classroom, homeschooling
and distance learning, as well as teacher training. This software
was developed with over $2.5 million in research funding from the
U.S. Department of Education and the National Science Foundation and
is teacher tested and approved. Features of the Tutors include:
Web-Based Interface: Quantum Tutors® use a dialogue-driven interface that interacts with the student
in a conversational style similar to a human tutor. The software is
available via the Internet so students can get help when they need
it most: during the evening hours at home when a teacher is not available
to assist with homework.
Enter Any Problem: Unlike
other software systems that only offer a limited set of problems from
which to choose, the Quantum Tutors® accept any problem
students need to work on, making the Tutors compatible with any
curriculum.
Enter Your Own Work: Using the
software over the Internet, students can solve problems similar to
how they would on paper. The Tutors provide individualized feedback
for each step, create a transcript of all work identifying students'
strengths and weaknesses in understanding scientific principles and
help students improve problem solving skills.
Ask Questions: The Tutors create
evolving lists of questions that change based on how students are
approaching the problems. By teaching students to ask better questions,
their knowledge of the subject greatly improves.
"Quantum's technology is like nothing
else on the market, providing new and innovative learning support
for difficult concepts in applied mathematics, chemistry
and physical science," said Randy Burkard, president of Science Kit
& Boreal Laboratories, a distribution partner for Quantum's software.
"The Quantum Tutors® are the most effective educational software programs
that we have seen. With their addition to our catalog, we now offer
educators the best tutorial software on the market today."
School districts, schools, and teachers
can subscribe to the software via the Internet through two of Quantum's
partners, Science Kit & Boreal Laboratories, which offers both the
chemistry and mathematics Tutors or Holt, Rinehart and Winston offering
the chemistry Tutors.
About Quantum®
Quantum Simulations, Inc. develops artificial intelligence (AI) tutoring,
assessment and professional development software that empowers teachers
and inspires students from middle school through college to improve
their knowledge and appreciation for the sciences. Teacher tested
and approved by educators across the United States, Quantum's AI software
is proven in research studies to improve comprehension, problem solving
skills and test scores by as much as 50%. Quantum's intelligent tutoring
engines are integrated with existing web-based learning products,
providing a strong competitive edge for distributing partners. A "technology
think tank," Quantum® is funded and supported by the U.S. Department
of Education, the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes
of Health. For more information, please visit www.quantumsimulations.com.
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