More Results
The KiSS Program is grounded in research on retrieval practice and motivation. This page highlights emerging findings from both our ongoing studies and our NSF-funded project on incentive structures. Early analyses show that participating in the KiSS Program can dramatically boost students’ sense of readiness for their next course and that well-designed digital badges can encourage more consistent review over academic breaks. We will continue to share new insights as additional results become available.
Participating in the KiSS Program increases students' sense of readiness for their upcoming course. Students who were very hesitant about their preparedness for the next course immediately after completing the previous course gained three levels of confidence after participating in the KiSS Program over break.
Awarding digital badges appears to encourage more consistent participation on a daily basis. A comparison of Winter Break 2023-2024 (before badges) and Winter Break 2024-2025 (after badges) shows that a larger percentage of students participated on more days of the KiSS Program when growth mindset digital badges were awarded.
Project Information
Engaging STEM Students in Retrieval Practice for Foundational Skills over Academic Breaks (PI Carla van de Sande: Co-PI Mark Reiser) is supported by a grant from the National Science Foundation.