Posts tagged Boulder
Mining big data for performance clues as a study guide
Jan 21st
CU-built software uses big data to battle
forgetting with personalized content review
forgetting with personalized content review
Computer software similar to that used by online retailers to recommend products to a shopper can help students remember the content they’ve studied, according to a new study by the University of Colorado Boulder.
The software, created by computer scientists at CU-Boulder’s Institute for Cognitive Science, works by tapping a database of past student performance to suggest what material an individual student most needs to review.
For example, the software might know that a student who forgot one particular concept but remembered another three weeks after initially learning them is likely to need to review a third concept six weeks after it was taught. When a student who fits that profile uses the software, the computer can pull up the most useful review questions.
Using computers to battle forgwtting
“If you have two students with similar study histories for specific material, and one student couldn’t recall the answer, it’s a reasonable predictor that the other student won’t be able to either, especially when you take into consideration the different abilities of the two students,” said CU-Boulder Professor Michael Mozer, senior author of the study published in the journal Psychological Science.
The process of combing “big data” for performance clues is similar to strategies used by e-commerce sites, Mozer said.
“They know what you browsed and didn’t buy and what you browsed and bought,” Mozer said. “They measure your similarity to other people and use purchases of similar people to predict what you might want to buy. If you substitute ‘buying’ with ‘recalling,’ it’s the same thing.”
The program is rooted in theories that psychologists have developed about the nature of forgetting. Researchers know that knowledge—whether of facts, concepts or skills—slips away without review, and that spacing the review out over time is crucial to obtaining robust and durable memories.
Still, it’s uncommon for students to do the kind of extended review that favors long-term retention. Students typically review material that was presented only in the most recent unit or chapter—often in preparation for a quiz—without reviewing previous units or chapters at the same time.
This leads to rapid forgetting, even for the most motivated learners, Mozer said. For example, a recent study found that medical students forget roughly 25 to 35 percent of basic science knowledge after one year and more than 50 percent by the next year.
Over the last decade, Mozer has worked with University of California, San Diego, psychologist Harold Pashler, also a co-author of the new study, to create a computer model that could predict how spaced review affects memory. The new computer program described in the study is an effort to make practical use of that model.
Robert Lindsey, a CU-Boulder doctoral student collaborating with Mozer, built the personalized review program and then tested it in a middle school Spanish class.
For the study, Lindsey and Mozer divided the material students were learning into three groups. For material in a “massed” group, the students were drilled only on the current chapter. For material in a “generic-spaced” group, the students were drilled on the most recent two chapters. For material in a “personalized-spaced” group, the algorithm determined what material from the entire semester each student would benefit most from reviewing.
In a cumulative test taken a month after the semester’s end, personalized-spaced review boosted remembering by 16.5 percent over massed study and by 10 percent over generic-spaced review.
In a follow-up experiment, Mozer and his colleagues compared their personalized review program to a program that randomly quizzes students on all units that have been covered so far. Preliminary results show that the personalized program also outperforms random reviews of all past material.
So far, the program has been tested only in foreign language classes, but Mozer believes the program could be helpful for improving retention in a wide range of disciplines, including math skills.
It’s not necessary to have a prior database of student behavior to implement the personalized review program. Students can begin by using the program as a traditional review tool that asks random questions, and as students answer, the computer begins to search for patterns in the answers. “It doesn’t take long to get lots and lots of data,” Mozer said.
The research was funded by the National Science Foundation and the McDonnell Foundation.
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Buffs demonic on defense, rebound from UCLA home loss
Jan 19th
By B.G. Brooks, CUBuffs.com Contributing Editor
BOULDER – Any lingering memories of the Colorado Buffaloes’ painful loss on Thursday night to UCLA – their first home defeat of the 2013-14 season – were quickly blocked out on Saturday.
Literally, forcefully, fervently.
Swatting away seven first-half shots and setting a pedal-to-the-metal pace that produced an early 20-2 lead, No. 21 CU slapped Southern California 83-62 at the Coors Events Center.
“This was just what the doctor ordered for this team . . . this was the kind of game we needed,” CU coach Tad Boyle said, noting the timing of the win couldn’t have been better after the 69-56 loss to UCLA and knee injuries last weekend that ended point guard Spencer Dinwiddie’s junior season and shelved freshman wing Tre’Shaun Fletcher for 6-8 weeks. Both players will undergo surgery.
Gordon had a game-high eight rebounds and accounting for five of the Buffs’ blocked shots. He also scored five points, made two assists, got one steal and hit two of his three shots from the field – including his first career 3-pointer.
Continued Boyle: “I’m really proud of our guys, from the end of the bench to the guys on the floor, for the way they responded. We talked about it at halftime; the frustrating thing about the UCLA game was second-chance points (20) and points off turnovers (20 off of 17 CU errors). We had four turnovers at halftime (12 total) and they had two offensive rebounds.
“Our team took what they had not done against UCLA and did a much better job. Obviously it’s one game, we have to move on. I said this after the UCLA game and I’ll say it again, ‘Don’t count this team out.’ These guys have toughness, they have grit, and we can win some games in this league. All you can ask for in life is an opportunity and we have a great one in front of us.”
That would be a Thursday night game at No. 1 Arizona, followed by a Saturday visit to Arizona State – a pair of desert spots where the Buffs went 0-2 last season to begin Pac-12 play. But needing a win Saturday to break a current two-game losing streak and maybe reestablish some of their swagger, the Buffs did both against the Trojans – obviously a right-place, right-time opponent.
Still, junior guard Askia Booker, one of four Buffs in double figures Saturday, kept the 21-point blowout in perspective. “We can’t get drunk off of this win,” he said. “USC is pretty low in the (Pac-12) standings and we’re about to go play the No. 1 team in the country. We have to stay locked in as a team.”
The Buffs (15-4 overall, 4-2 Pac-12) finished Saturday with a season-high 10 blocked shots – six shy of the school record – and held the Trojans (9-9, 0-5) to 36 percent shooting from the field while hitting 50.9 percent of their own shots.
CU outrebounded the visitors by 20 (43-23), with redshirt freshman Wesley Gordon collecting a game-high eight rebounds and accounting for five of the Buffs’ blocked shots. He also scored five points, made two assists, got one steal and hit two of his three shots from the field – including his first career 3-pointer.
“I loved the pace of the game,” said Boyle. “Our interior defense was good, blocking shots was good (and) getting off to a 20-2 lead was a confidence builder for our guys.”
Booker called the Buffs’ shot blocking “very important . . . blocked shots lead to transition baskets and that’s where we’re at our best. We’ve got big guys who run and finish.”
USC, said Booker, was noticeably frustrated with having its early shots contested and rejected: “Without a doubt . . . their No. 10 (Pe’Shon Howard) was looking around like, ‘I can’t get a layup up without it being knocked away.’ It’s really good when we’re all locked in and getting that kind of help from the weak side.”
That’s what Booker supplied on one of the more creative and crowd-pleasing first half blocks. Booker, pushing 6-2 in his sneakers, flew in and batted away a layup attempt by Trojans 7-footer D.J. Haley. It was only Booker’s second rejection of the season – and don’t bet on him forgetting it.
“I guess it was a pretty nice block and I’ll probably go watch that again,” Booker said. “It’s not that high; it’s just a good defensive play and we need stops like that whether it’s from me or Jaron (Hopkins) or Josh (Scott).”
CU also was nearly perfect from the free throw line, hitting 19 of 22 (86 percent) with Booker hitting all six of his attempts. He finished with 13 points on three-of-five shooting and had six of CU’s 15 assists.
“He has never had a game like this,” Boyle said. “He played within himself and was efficient. When he’s efficient we’re pretty darn good; I thought he was terrific.”
Booker was one of four Buffs in double figures, topped by Josh Scott’s 20. Xavier Johnson and Jaron Hopkins added 10 points each. J.T. Terrell and 7-2 center Omar Oraby led USC with 16 points apiece.
The Buffs led by as many 18 points in the first half and were up 17 (40-23) at intermission courtesy of a Booker buzzer beater. It came on a sweet step back shot by “Ski,” but it wasn’t indicative of the first-half storyline.
CU was demonic on defense with its shot-blocking spree and holding UCLA to two points for the game’s first 8:18. At the 11:48 mark, the Bruins were one of 12 from the field (8 percent) and the Buffs led 20-2, with the final five points of that bulge coming on two free throws by Booker after a technical foul on USC coach Andy Enfield and a 3-pointer by George King.
None of the Trojans escaped the Buffs’ first-half intensity – not even Enfield. The CU student section harassed him – good naturedly, of course – with a blown up mug shot of his wife, former model Amanda Marcum. But that probably wasn’t what incited the “T;” blame the Buffs for that. There was no discrepancy of personal fouls: USC was whistled for 16, CU for 15.
Dinwiddie out for the season
Jan 13th
By B.G. Brooks, CUBuffs.com Contributing Editor
BOULDER – If the Colorado Buffaloes are to make a run at the Pac-12 Conference regular-season championship and earn a school-record third consecutive NCAA Tournament berth, it will have to be done without point guard Spencer Dinwiddie.
The 6-6 junior’s 2013-14 season is over, ended by an ACL injury that will require surgery when swelling subsides in his left knee. The injury was suffered in the first half of Sunday afternoon’s Pac-12 Conference loss at Washington, and the prognosis that the Buffs and their fans dreaded was delivered Monday afternoon when Dinwiddie underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) exam.
“It’s a big blow for him . . . he’s worked so hard to put himself in the position he has and help lead this team to where we are today,” CU coach Tad Boyle said. “To have that all taken away from you in one basketball play is . . . it’s tough.”
It was equally tough, Boyle said, for Dinwiddie’s teammates: “They’re hurting. No. 1, we’ve got a close, tight-knit team. We’ve got great chemistry on this team. Guys care about each other. From that standpoint, the team’s hurting. There’s no question in my mind they’re a resilient group of guys, high-character guys. One guy goes down the opportunity for two or three more opens. We’re going to control what we can control, which is our attitude and effort every day in practice. That’s all you can do in life.”
After Sunday’s game, sophomore post Josh Scott called Dinwiddie “a big part, not the whole part, but he’s a big part of what we do. It’s just an adjustment and we’re going to have to figure out how to do that without him.”
Dinwiddie can expect a complete recovery, said Boyle, but he refrained from offering a timeline because the rehabilitation of ACL injuries differs from athlete to athlete. After receiving the news, said Boyle, Dinwiddie was “great . . . he’s controlling the things he can control – which are his attitude and effort. Get the swelling out of the knee and the surgery will happen when the doctors feel it’s appropriate. Then the rehab starts.”
Boyle credited Dinwiddie for his maturity, noting the player was “handling it very well. He’s going to be better because of it. He’s going to have a full and complete recovery. That’s the good news. It’s not a situation where he’s going to come back and be 80 percent. He’s going to be 100 percent when he comes back, whenever that is. I don’t know how long, I don’t know what the time frame is in terms of the recovery. It’s not going to be an easy rehab, but he’ll be fine.”
So, too, might be the Buffs – if they understand their top scorer and floor leader can’t be replaced by a single player. Boyle used the analogy of CU having to replace last season’s No. 2 nationally ranked rebounder when Andre Roberson declared himself eligible for the NBA Draft. The 2013-14 Buffs, said Boyle, are a better rebounding team than last season because that role has been taken on by committee.
“Everybody thought we’d have trouble rebounding because Andre’s gone, and guess what?” noted Boyle. “We’re a better rebounding team today than we were last year with the second-best rebounder in the country on our team. So everybody stepped up and everybody has to do that with Spencer out. Not one person is going to replace him . . . with everybody stepping up their game up a little bit, we can lessen the blow.”
Dinwiddie, of Woodland Hills, Calif., was CU’S leader in scoring (14.7 ppg), assists (64, 3.8 apg) and steals (26, 1.5 spg). He also led the Buffs in 3-pointers (26) and free throw shooting percentage (85.7).
In his 21/2 seasons, Dinwiddie already had worked his way into the top five in two CU career categories – No. 3 in free throw percentage (420-of-506, 83 percent) and No. 4 in 3-point field goal percentage (115-of-298, 38.6 percent). He had been recognized nationally, making the Top 50 watch lists for the Cousy, Naismith and Wooden Awards.
Boyle said the Buffs, who meet UCLA on Thursday at the Coors Events Center (6 p.m., Pac-12 Network), will focus on that game and not how they must adapt to Dinwiddie’s loss over the next two months. “What I told the team is that we don’t have to beat every team without Spencer,” Boyle said. “We have to figure out a way to beat UCLA without Spencer. That’s all we’ve got to do. Nothing changes in our preparation and in what we’re going to try to do. We’re down a man and everybody else has to step up.”
Beginning with the Bruins, the only Pac-12 opponent the Buffs have not defeated (0-2), Boyle said Dinwiddie’s injury is of little consequence to the rest of the league: “Nobody . . . really cares. They’re not going to take pity on the Buffaloes. I can promise you that. UCLA is going to come in there Thursday trying to get a road win. We’ve got to make sure we compete our tails off, scratch and claw, do everything we have to do to try to beat them.”
Figuring to share Dinwiddie’s minutes are freshman Jaron Hopkins, who already has logged more court time than any of Boyle’s first-year players, and sophomores Xavier Talton and Eli Stalzer. Said Boyle: “All three capable of taking care of the ball and getting us in our offense . . . they’re good team guys who shoot it, dribble it and pass it.
“We don’t have the star system here. Spencer was our leading scorer and leading assist guy, he led us in steals. There’s no question he was important to our team. I’m not trying to minimize this loss, but I just want our players to realize they’re here for a reason: they’re capable as well. When one guy goes down, the door opens for one, or in this case, maybe two or three more.”
Dinwiddie went down when his left knee buckled with 2:51 left in the first half at Washington’s Alaska Airlines Arena. No other player was around him. At the time, CU was leading 25-22, and Dinwiddie had scored seven points, with one assist.
At halftime, the Buffs still led 29-26, but with Andrew Andrews and C.J. Wilcox opening the second half with 3-pointers, the Huskies outscored the Buffs 6-1 in the first 2 minutes and took a 32-30 lead. CU never caught up and suffered its first Pac-12 loss of the season, 71-54.
Wilcox, guarded mostly by Dinwiddie in the first half and held to 10 points, erupted for 21 in the second half – including 13 in the first 6 minutes – and finished with a career-high 31.
In Monday’s national polls, the Buffs (14-3, 3-1) slipped from No. 15/17 to No. 21 in the Associated Press weekly rankings and No. 22 in the USA Today/Coaches Poll. CU has been ranked for six consecutive weeks in the AP poll – the longest since eight straight weeks in 1997 – and for five consecutive weeks by the coaches.
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Andrew Green | Assistant Director Sports Information
