2X Learning
Principles of Scientific Based Research in MobyMax
Studentswhohavespentjust40hoursusingMobyMaxaverageonefullgrade‐levelincreaseinboth
mathandlanguage.TheseresultsareduelargelytoMobyMax’spedagogy,whichincorporates
multipleresearch‐basedtechniquesthathaveprovenhighlyeffectiveinincreasingstudent
achievement.
MobyMax'spedagogyandcurriculumsystemincorporatethemosteffectivepracticesforincreasing
studentoutcomesasidentifiedbyProfessorJohnHattie'sexhaustiveresearchofover800meta‐
analyses.
Consistent MobyMax Results
Builtonthebackofresearchthatidentifieswhatworksbestforstudentsandteachers,MobyMax's
pedagogyhasproducedconsistentgainsinstudentachievementinbothmathandlanguageover
thepast2years.
The 60 Year History of 2X Learning
Thepotentialfor2Xlearninghasbeenrealizedbyprominentresearchersforthelast60years.
Formative Assessment
Therearefourdecadesworthofempiricalevidenceattestingtotheinstructionaldividendsofthe
formativeassessmentprocess.Reviewsofmorethan4,000researchstudiesshowclearlythatwhen
formativeassessmentsarewellimplementedintheclassroom,itcanessentiallydoublethespeed
ofstudentlearning.
Infact,researchshowsthattheformativeassessmentprocessissoeffectivethatdifferentteachers
canuseitindiversewaysandstillproducegreatresultswiththeirstudents.
MobyMaxtakesformativeassessmenttoawholenewlevelbycontinuallymonitoringstudent
progressfromthemomentastudentbeginsthediagnosticplacementtestinasubject.Teacherscan
immediatelyseeeveryexerciseastudenthascompletedandmakeinformedinstructionaldecisions
basedonMoby’seasytousedatadashboards.
Accelerated Curriculum
Movinggiftedstudentsthroughthecurriculumatanacceleratedratehasbeenshowntoyield
significantgainsinstudentachievement(KulikandKulik,1984).Accelerationvastlyoutperforms
enrichmentintermsofstudentoutcomesforgiftedstudents,andsomeresearchsuggeststhatthis
effectmayextendtonon‐giftedstudentsaswell.MobyMaxcapitalizesonthisresearchby
differentiatinglearningforeachstudent,fillinginanygapsinstudentlearningfirstandthen
allowingthestudenttomovethroughthecurriculumatanindividualizedpace.Whenastudent
failstomastermaterial,theyreceiveremedialinstruction,andconversely,whenastudentisableto
demonstraterapidmastery,theyareabletomoveforwardmorequickly.
Mastery Learning
Theuseofformativeassessmentforstudentfeedbackpairedwithappropriatecorrective
proceduresintheclassroomhasdramaticallyimprovedstudentperformanceinallsubjectareas.In
a1984study,renownededucationscholarBenjaminBloomdeterminedmasterylearningstudents
performedonestandarddeviationabovetheaveragestudent,outscoring84%ofstudentsin
conventionalclassrooms.
What’smore,70%ofmasterylearningstudentsattainedsummativeachievementreachedbyonly
20%ofconventionalclassroomstudents,whilealsoshowingsignificantlymoretimeontaskin
theirrespectivelearningenvironment.
MobyMaxstudentsaremasterylearners.Byprovidingthoroughandeffectivefeedbackthrough
diagnostictestsandformativeassessments,MobyMaxautomaticallyimplementstheappropriate
correctiveproceduresforeachindividualstudent.Teachersareeasilyabletomonitorstudent
progresstowardsmasteryofspecificstandardsbygradeandsubject.
Immediate
Feedback
Afterreviewing8,000studiesJohnHattie(1992)concluded,“Themostpowerfulsingle
modificationthatenhancesachievementisfeedback.Thesimplestprescriptionforimproving
educationmustbe‘dollopsoffeedback’.”
Thetimingoffeedbackhasproventobeveryimportant,withimmediatefeedbackprovingtobethe
mosteffective.Inaddition,specificfeedback,suchasthespecificexplanationsthataccompany
everyprobleminMobyMax,hasbeenproventoenhanceachievement.
Direct Instruction
Directinstructionisfrequentlyconfusedwithrotememorizationandrepetitivedrill,bothofwhich
canbeboringandnegativelyaffectstudentoutcomes.However,directinstruction,when
implementedcorrectly,hasbeenproventofostersignificantgainsinstudentachievementand
resultindeepandenduringunderstandings(Péladeau,Forget&Gagné,2003).Directinstruction
involvesprovidingadiscretelearningtargetwithsuccesscriteria,implementingclearmodeling
andguidedpractice,andofferingampleandvariedopportunitiestopracticeandextendaspecific
skillwhileprovidingusefulfeedback.MobyMaxexcelsatharnessingthepowerofdirectinstruction
bybreakingdownstandardsintoclearlearningobjectivesforstudents,providingeasilyunderstood
instructionintheformofteachmelessons,andpresentingstudentswithmultipleexperiencesto
practiceanddevelopadeepunderstandingofspecificskillswhileprovidinghigh‐utilityfeedback
throughoutthelearningprocess.
Parental Involvement
Researchindicatesthattheinfluenceofastudent’shomelifevarieswidelywithrespecttostudent
achievement.However,highparentalexpectationshaveconsistentlybeenshowntobeoneofthe
strongestindicatorsofincreasedstudentachievement(Hung&Ho,2005).MobyMax’sparentportal
allowsparentstomonitorstudentprogressinrealtime,celebratestudentsuccesses,andbecome
moreinvolvedintheirstudent’seducationthroughasingle,easy‐to‐useinterface.
Writing
Teachingstrategiesforplanning,revising,editing,andwritingarepowerfulindicatorsofstudent
success(Graham&Perin,2007).Understandingthepowerofwritinginstruction,MobyMaxhas
implementedwritingacrosstheentirecurriculum.Allsubjectsincludewritingcomponents,
allowingstudentstogainexperiencewithavarietyofwritingtypesandreceiveinstructionand
feedbackfromavarietyofteachers.Inaddition,MobyMaxhasdevelopedastandalonewritingskills
curriculumtoharnessthepowerofwritinginstructiontoincreasestudentachievement.
Homework
Homeworkhasbecomeahotlycontestedtopicinmoderneducation.Researchshowsthatthe
wrongtypesofhomeworkhavenomeaningfulimpactonlearningandcanevenunderminestudent
motivation(Trautwein,Koller,Schmitz&Baumert,2002).However,byprovidingstudentswith
quick,rigorous,andvariedexercisesMobyMaxisabletocapitalizeonresearchthathighlightsthe
significantgainsthatthesetypesofassignmentscandeliver.BecauseeverypracticesetinMobyis
accompaniedbyaTeachMelessonandimmediatefeedback,homeworkonMobyismoreakinto
guidedandindependentpracticeduringclass.Thestudenthasalltheresourcestheyneedto
achievesuccess.
Systematic Review
MobyMax’ssystematicreviewcontinuallyreinforceslessonsovermultipleyearsbasedupona
student’sprovenmasteryofaconcept.
NewellandRosenbloom(1981)andAnderson(1995)foundthatstudentsmustreceivefocused
practicetoachievemasteryofskillsandthatittakesmorethan24practicesessionsbefore
studentsreach80percentmastery.Theyalsofoundthispracticemustoccuroveraspanofdaysor
weeks.
MobyMax’ssystematicreviewensuresthatstudentsdevelopenduringunderstandingsbyutilizing
asystematicreviewcycletorevisitpreviouslymasteredmaterialandensurethatmasteryis
retained.
Goal Setting
Researchshowsaconsistent,positiverelationshipbetweensettinggoalsandsuccessfully
performingtasks.Tothisend,MobyMaxintegratesIEPgoalsdirectlyintothestudent’scurriculum
anddatareporting.
Simple Cognitive Skills
Fromacademiatoprofessionalsportstraining,cognitivetheoryrecognizesthatcomplex
knowledgeiscomposedofsimplecognitiveskillsandthatthemostefficientwaytolearnany
complexskillistopracticeeachofthesmall,discreteskillsthatcomposethecomplextask.
MobyMax’scurriculumbreakscomplexskillsintosmall,achievablesub‐skills,spiralingknowledge
throughoutalessontoachieveeventualmasteryofcomplexskills.Thispedagogyhasbeenshown
tonotonlyincreaseachievement,butalsoimproveconfidenceandmotivationasstudentsmaster
eachindividualsub‐skill.
Fact Fluency
Basicconceptslikeaddition,subtraction,multiplication,anddivisionarethefoundationformore
complexmathprocedures.TheNationalMathPanel’s“FoundationforSuccess:FinalReport”(2008)
advocatesthatallstudentsdevelopautomaticrecallofmathfactsinordertobeprepared
adequatelyforhigherlevelmath.MobyMaxhasincorporatedfactfluencydirectlyintoits
curriculumandhasalsocreatedastandalonefactmastermodulethatensuresstudentsgetthe
practicenecessarytoachieveautomaticrecallofallmathfacts.
Student Data
Usingdatatoinforminstructionaldecisionsleadstoimprovedstudentoutcomes(Wayman,2005;
Wayman,Cho,&Johnston,2007;Wohlstetter,Datnow,&Park,2008).MobyMaxallowsallparties
involvedinastudent’seducation,includingthestudent,toeasilyaccessstudentachievementdata.
MobyMaxcontinuouslymonitorsstudentprogresswithregardtomasteryoftheCCSSstandards
anddisplaysthedatainmultiple,easy‐to‐interpretformats.
AdditionalResearchCitations
FormativeAssessment
Hamilton,L.,Halverson,R.,Jackson,S.,Mandinach,E.,Supovitz,J.,&Wayman,J.(2009).Using
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GoalSetting
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