The fundamental “student engagement” problem persists because schools don’t empower students with agency nor the social, affirming learning environments they need. Lack of meaningful engagement leads students to care more about their grades than their learning. Memorization and recognition of concepts for short-term grade boosts come to be valued over mastery and application of knowledge.
The Short Answer web app helps K-12 teachers facilitate engaging and effective peer feedback activities. We challenge students to construct responses to teacher-generated questions, provide scaffolded feedback to peers through the process of comparison, and discuss results as a class. Students are prompted to reflect on their individualized feedback to improve their understanding and develop self-regulated learning skills.
Short Answer's research-based theory of change is grounded in formative assessment best practices, empowering teachers to make more informed instructional decisions, engage their students, and reduce achievement gaps. It also improves students’ self-regulated learning skills and helps them develop lifelong social-emotional learning habits through authentic, embedded experiences.
In our pilot, 82% of students reported that using Short Answer helped them improve their understanding of class content.
Since our launch in February 2023, over 100 teachers have used Short Answer for free with their students. 2,500+ student responses have been logged. Our goal is to help as many teachers as possible introduce the power of peer feedback to their students.
Short Answer is a winner of the Stanford Learning Design Challenge and the Futures Forum on Learning Tools Competition; we are an ASU-GSV Elite 200 EdTech startup.
Teachers, visit myshortanswer.com and sign up for a free account today!
Contact: ben@myshortanswer.com
Twitter: @myshortanswer
