“Our work is about enabling instructors to spend more time connecting with their students who need the most support; and freeing instructors to focus on concepts and complex themes, rather than correcting grammar mistakes.”

CHICAGO (PRWEB) November 17, 2022

Packback, whose inquiry-based online discussion platform is used at hundreds of colleges around the country, today announced the launch of Deep Dives, an AI-enabled coach developed to help students improve their writing. Rooted in a body of evidence that real-time feedback can play a critical role in helping students master writing and research skills, Deep Dives is designed to not only to guide students throughout every stage of the writing process, but also streamline grading to enable instructors to focus on deeper and more substantive support.

“Helping students improve their writing starts with providing intentional, rich feedback that helps them become not just better writers, but better critical thinkers,” said Dr. Samuel Cannon, Assistant Professor at Louisiana State University-Shreveport. “What makes Packback’s approach unique is that it levels the playing field for all students, regardless of skill level. The real-time feedback they receive while they write builds their confidence, encourages good writing habits, and helps them achieve mastery — while also freeing up time for me to focus on the meaningful, substantive feedback.”

Research suggests that so-called “where to next” feedback, which provides students with clear next steps they can use to improve their writing, can have the most substantial impact on students’ overall grade. Deep Dives uses AI to provide this type of detailed feedback in real time on instructor-selected rubric categories such as “flow & organization,” and “grammar & mechanics,” encouraging student engagement throughout the writing process. These metrics help students improve their writing on their own time, independent from feedback from their instructor. The tool also includes a Digital Research Assistant that empowers students to evaluate the quality and credibility of their sources and creates a living bibliography for the essay. Its streamlined auto-review AI provides instant credibility checks for sources, along with spelling and grammar alerts, to help students correct common mistakes before they submit their assignment — and to better enable instructors to engage with the substance of their students’ writing rather than the mechanics.

“The past two years have, in many ways, widened existing gaps in writing proficiency that cause students to fall behind in their academic progress. Taking a formative approach to writing instruction can play a critical role in helping all students develop their writing skills — and emerging technologies can ensure that all students receive the same access to substantive feedback regardless of their skill level,” said Jessica Tenuta, co-founder and Chief Product Officer at Packback. “Our work is about enabling instructors to spend more time connecting with their students who need the most support; and freeing instructors to focus on concepts and complex themes, rather than correcting grammar mistakes. Together with our school and district partners, we’re working to make the writing process more engaging and meaningful, in ways that will inspire students to keep writing throughout their college journey and beyond.”

Backed by entrepreneur Mark Cuban, Packback uses proprietary AI and machine learning technology to provide inquiry-based online discussion and long-form writing support to over 8,000 instructors and over 1.5 million students, who have posted 87 million questions and responses to date through its platform. A recent study conducted in partnership with 10 higher education institutions indicates that students in classes that use Packback received more A, B, C grades and fewer D, F, W’s than the control group, and also cited sources approximately 2.5 times as often as students in the control group.

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