Acellus is pleased to introduce Acellus 3, the next evolutionary step in the Acellus Learning System.

Recent studies have indicated that people learn best when surrounded with lots of information. The brain is continually seeking knowledge. Acellus 3 is designed on the premise that when students encounter areas in which they need help and take the necessary action to find the answers, they are more apt to retain that knowledge.

How Acellus 3 Works

Acellus 3 Lessons

As a student begins a course running on Acellus 3, a problem appears. Simultaneously, a video begins to play.

The problem creates within the students the need for information. If the students know how to solve it, they can immediately enter the answer. If they do not, they are given the opportunity to discover how to answer it. Students may choose to watch the video lecture being presented or read through online notes to obtain the information necessary to solve the presented problem. In this way, the students search for the information that they need. If they miss something presented, students can “rewind” or advance the video as needed. They can even request additional video instruction, if necessary, by watching available Help videos.

After students enter the required number of correct answers, they are allowed to continue on to the next lecture, or complete watching the video being presented. This enables students to advance quickly through topics they are already familiar with, while at the same time, allowing those who need a little more information, to get the instruction that they require. Acellus students can request a hint providing detailed information on how to work problems.

Sticky Problems

After successfully completing each lecture, students are presented with a series of review problems. These review problems, or "sticky" problems, are problems missed in previous lectures. Students are "stuck" with these problems until they answer them correctly, without requesting help. Acellus keeps a running tally of the number of sticky problems a student has accumulated. When a sticky problem sequence is about to begin, a short animation is presented informing students that they are about to begin a review sequence and challenging them to reduce their number of sticky problems by answering them correctly. While the students are working sticky problems they have access to the video lectures associated with each of these problems. Sticky problems are a way to give students extra practice working problems that have been difficult for them in the past -- helping them master memorization and overcome mental blocks.

Reviews

At the end of each Unit, Acellus presents students with a Review to prepare them for the following Exam. During this Review, all of the Acellus features are activated and accessible for student usage. A student may request a video associated with a particular problem at any time during the course of the Review. Students have full access to Notes, Terms, and Hints as well. The Reviews, which are not graded, allow students to take the time to become confident with each type of problem covered by the following Exam. The Review helps cement learning into the students' "long term" memory.

Exams

Acellus provides Unit and Term Exams to test student proficiency in the subject matter covered. During this phase, all Acellus help features are disabled and students must focus on correctly answering the presented problems. Students that pass the Exams are advanced to the following Unit. Students that do not pass are given additional instruction and practice to strengthen their weak areas, allowing them to move forward with confidence.