6 October 1998

Carnegie Mellon Spins Off a Company and Names a President To Commercialize Cognitive Tutors for Education Market

Carnegie Mellon University has formed Carnegie Learning, Inc., a new company to commercialize its series of software-based, cognitive tutors that have been successfully teaching algebra and geometry to middle, high school and college students since 1993.

Robert A. Longo, a marketing executive and former educator with more than 10 years of experience in the field of educational software, has been named president and chief executive officer of the new firm.

The tutors are backed by nearly two decades of research and more than $11 million in funding from government agencies and foundations. They're based on a learning model or expert system that blends research in cognitive psychology with artificial intelligence to diagnose learning difficulties and coach students at any time as they work through a problem. The tutors have been used by thousands of students and have been shown to improve standard test scores and significantly increase student achievement gains over traditionally delivered classes. Experts say the cognitive tutors are one of the few educational products available today that have the research behind them to prove they work.

The product is not meant to replace the teacher, but instead create a collaborative, student-centered learning environment that includes the teacher. It focuses on practical problems and has been successful among diverse populations, including those in large, inner city schools, upscale suburban schools and even two- and four-year colleges.

The original tutor was developed by John R. Anderson, a professor of psychology and computer science at Carnegie Mellon. It~s built around the theory that students learn best by actively participating in the learning process rather than receiving static, verbalized information.

The basic algebra tutor was first tested in six Pittsburgh-area schools. Today, in addition to ongoing use in Pittsburgh, programs are underway in more than 60 schools across the country--in Queens and Manhattan in New York City, San Diego, Milwaukee, Buffalo, Pensacola, Fla., Norwalk, Ct., Barbourville, Ky., and military base schools in Tennessee, Italy and Germany.

Longo says the tutors are successful because they're programmed to think like human tutors. They can access a student~s knowledge base and tailor material to improve the student~s mathematical processing. Students like the tutor because it guides them in a non-judgmental way through a successful experience in mathematics problem solving.

Tutor-taught students learn material in one-third less time than in traditional learning situations. They are more attentive and show greater achievement gains. They score 15 percent higher on standardized tests and 100 percent better than their peers in applying mathematics in authentic problem solving situations. Students trained on cognitive tutors are twice as likely as their peers to be successful in geometry and go on to advanced algebra.

"Carnegie Mellon and Carnegie Learning have an opportunity to raise the national math scores in this country," says Longo, who honed his expertise marketing educational solutions for Apple Computer and NeXT Software to universities like Carnegie Mellon. Longo played an important role in Apple's effort to build a dominant share in the K-12 educational market in the 1980s, and directed a 13-state region that included one of the company's largest and most respected educational groups. He also helped to start NeXT Software by building its eastern operations. He eventually became NeXT's North American sales director.

Longo returned to Pittsburgh, his hometown, in the 1980s. He has held top management positions at several Pittsburgh area firms, including Algor, Inc., Westinghouse Communications and Surefind Information, Inc. Most recently, he was an officer and part of the founding investment group that started REVIVE Technologies, a legacy data conversion and migration company.

Longo holds bachelor's and master's degrees in communications from John Carroll University and Miami University of Ohio, respectively. Prior to his career in marketing, he spent five years as an educator at several colleges and universities, including John Carroll, Lakeland College and Miami University of Ohio. He also taught in a suburban Cleveland high school and consulted for various corporations, including Blue Cross and Ohio Bell, now Ameritech.

In the late 1970s, Longo made his first foray into high technology with Datapoint Corporation, a leader in distributed voice and data processing in San Antonio, Tex. He began in sales and rose to senior marketing management positions at the company's headquarters.

"Becoming president of Carnegie Learning has given me an opportunity to come back to the educational market," says Longo, "and that was the most satisfying work I've ever done. I loved being in the educational environment and having the opportunity to improve the quality of education in a very special way."

Longo envisions tutors enhancing students' abilities in other areas of mathematics, including calculus, statistics and arithmetic, or other disciplines like language or science.

"The engine has potential in for-profit tutoring companies, adult education programs, job training, medical education--anywhere there is a need for a more structured, active learning process. There is also a tremendous opportunity for the company to use the Internet in the delivery and support of its solutions. Here's something the university is giving back to society," Longo says, "a high potential business that can create both economic and social value."

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