The pilot that changed how one program thinks about AI.
Our first-year DFW rate in Calculus 1 dropped from 22% to 9%.
Our first-year DFW rate in Calculus 1 dropped from 22% to 9%.
Northgate's first-year engineering program had watched its Calculus 1 DFW rate climb from 12% to 22% over three years, matching the rise in undergraduate AI use. Homework grades stayed high. Exam grades collapsed.
The department piloted Brainback with 40 first-year students in the fall semester. Consumer product. No professor-facing analytics beyond usage. Weekly Brain score check-ins were optional.
The pilot cohort's Calc 1 DFW rate came in at 9%. The comparison cohort's stayed at 22%. The program has expanded the pilot to 120 students for the following semester.
the receipt
Calc 1 DFW rate
subjects in the story
Other students who put the workflow to work.
“I turned off ChatGPT for a semester and used Brainback for problem sets. My final exam average went up 18 points.”
“It's the first AI I've allowed on my kids' devices without a fight. Because it doesn't hand them the answer.”
“My first practice MCAT score was a 495. My real MCAT was a 517.”
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Free tier. Attempt-first. Cancel if you want the answer machine back.