Fifth Annual Workshop on A/B Testing and Platform-Enabled Learning Research

Learning engineering adds tools and processes to learning platforms to support improvement research. One kind of tool is A/B testing-common in large software companies and also represented academically at conferences like the Annual Conference on Digital Experimentation (CODE), and the International Consortium for Innovation and Collaboration in Learning Engineering (IEEE ICICLE). Recently, several A/B testing systems have arisen that focus on conducting research in educational environments, including UpGrade, Terracotta, and E-TRIALS. A/B testing can help improve educational platforms, yet there are challenging issues unique to conducting such work in these contexts. In response, a number of digital learning platforms have opened their systems to learning-improvement research by instructors and/or third-party researchers, with specific supports necessary for education-specific research designs. This workshop will explore challenges of A/B testing in educational contexts, how learning platforms are accelerating education research, and how empirical approaches can be used to drive powerful gains in student learning. It will also discuss opportunities for funding to conduct platform-enabled learning research.