Suruga Net and Asaka City Board of Education Announce Results of Joint Research: AI Drill Transforms "Struggles" into "Confidence," with 76.7% of Students Feeling "I Can Do It" and Demonstrating the Effectiveness of Individually Optimized Learning

Suruga Net Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Takahiko Yunokawa), which develops and provides adaptive, interactive ICT learning materials utilizing AI, conducted a demonstration research project from May 2025 to March 2026 in collaboration with the Asaka City Board of Education in Saitama Prefecture, under the theme of "Transforming Struggles into Confidence – Achieving Lessons (Learning) Where Growth is Felt."
Analysis of this research suggests that the utilization of "Surara Drill" functions effectively in a learning process where children and students become aware of their own struggles, overcome them, and build confidence that they "can do it."

76.7% of Students Feel "I Can Do It," Individually Optimized Learning Promotes Awareness Change

At Asaka Daiyon Junior High School, a demonstration research was conducted in English classes for approximately 120 first-year students using "Surara Drill." Small tests were administered every 2-3 class periods, and immediate scoring visualized the students' understanding of the material. Based on these results, optimized review assignments were automatically distributed to each student, allowing them to retake and focus on their weak areas for early mastery. Furthermore, monthly assignments focused on specific grammar points encouraged the systematization of knowledge, and a comprehensive review based on a learning diagnostic test was conducted before long vacations, supporting habit formation and cumulative understanding without carrying over struggles.

Post-demonstration survey results showed significant changes in students' attitudes towards learning. Specifically, in response to the question, "When you cleared a review assignment (= a problem you got wrong on a test), did you feel a sense of accomplishment like 'I can do it!'?", 76.7% of students responded affirmatively, confirming that it led to a feeling of "I can do it." Additionally, 70.9% felt that the problems were tailored to them, and 74.8% felt it helped them recognize their own weaknesses and struggles, all receiving high ratings.

These results suggest that individually optimized learning through AI drills may contribute not only to knowledge acquisition but also to the improvement of non-cognitive skills such as "the ability to grasp one's own understanding" and "confidence gained through completion."

Academic Achievements Also Confirmed: Boosting Lower-Achieving Students and Reducing Learning Gaps

Changes were also confirmed in academic performance. Comparing the end of the first semester with the end of the third semester, both average scores and medians increased, with the overall learning distribution shifting upwards. Improvement in scores was particularly prominent among lower-achieving students, and a trend of narrowing learning gaps was observed as learning progressed.

Furthermore, a clear correlation was confirmed between assignment completion status and academic performance, suggesting that engagement with AI-optimized review assignments may contribute to academic improvement.

Learning Cycle from "Individually Optimized Learning" to "Confidence"

The characteristic of this demonstration lies in the design of the learning process. Within classes, struggles were instantly visualized through small tests, and based on the results, review assignments tailored to each student's understanding level were automatically distributed. In addition, by combining this with review through the lecture function, a system was built to transform "not understanding" into "understanding" and to gradually build comprehension.
Suruga Net views this series of steps as a learning cycle that leads from "individually optimized learning" to "self-understanding," "overcoming weaknesses," and finally to "confidence and self-efficacy."
This demonstration also confirmed that students experience a sense of "becoming able to do it" as they go through this cycle.

A key feature is that reflection, which was previously limited to periodic tests, is now repeated in daily learning, leading to a shift towards learning where students identify their own challenges and proactively overcome them.

Similar Trends in Elementary Schools, Effectiveness Confirmed Even with a Focus on Home Study

At Asaka Daisan Elementary School, operations were primarily focused on home study for approximately 130 sixth-grade students. A learning cycle was established where students worked on weekly assignments, and small tests were conducted at school based on their content. As a result, a correlation was confirmed between learning diagnostic tests, learning logs, and changes in non-cognitive abilities.

These findings suggest that the effects of "Surara Drill," such as "self-understanding" and "confidence building," may appear to a certain extent regardless of the mode of utilization.

A Learning Model to Turn "Struggles" into "Confidence"

This demonstration research showed that by utilizing AI drills, learning that allows students to feel growth can be achieved, starting from "struggles." When children and students become aware of their own understanding, overcome weaknesses, and accumulate experiences of "becoming able to do it," it leads to increased motivation and confidence.

Based on the results of this demonstration, Suruga Net will continue to promote the development and dissemination of specific utilization models in educational settings and advance initiatives that support individual learning.

[Demonstration Research Overview]

■ Period: May 2025 – March 2026

■ Materials Used: "Surara Drill"

■ Target Schools and Subjects

- Asaka Daisan Elementary School, 6th Grade, approx. 130 students (Mathematics)

- Asaka Daiyon Junior High School, 1st Grade, approx. 120 students (English)

■ Main Objectives

- To enable children and students to acquire a "cycle of recognizing and overcoming their own weaknesses from within the unit learning."

- To build a class support system that allows teachers to grasp trends in weak areas for each class and strengthen individualized support.

■ Specific Utilization Methods

- During Class: Understanding comprehension via small test function → Automatic distribution of review assignments by AI

- Home Study:

* Elementary school students: Work on review assignments for 20-30 minutes per session to build a learning habit that does not accumulate uncertainties.

* Junior high school students: Set "intensification months" for specific grammar units and voluntarily work on assignments for about 2 hours per month.

- Long Vacations: Comprehensive review using learning diagnostic tests → Reinforcement through re-tests and review drills.

■ Teacher Support

- Regular provision of unique learning reports to aid in individualized support for children and students.

■ Evaluation Methods

- Quantitative Evaluation: Learning time, goal achievement rate, scores on small tests and regular tests, struggle overcoming rate, etc.

- Qualitative Evaluation: Tracking changes in motivation, learning habits, self-efficacy, and metacognition through questionnaires.

* The overall picture of effectiveness will be verified by combining quantitative and qualitative results.

■ Implementation Structure

- Suruga Net Development Team: Syllabus design, learning log analysis

- Suruga Net School Team: Operational training, support for utilizing learning data

- Asaka City Board of Education: Overall supervision and coordination

[Background of Demonstration Research]

With the advancement of the GIGA School Program, one device per student has been provided, and schools are required to achieve "individually optimized learning" utilizing ICT. However, many challenges remain in fostering the ability of children and students to recognize and proactively overcome their own struggles, and in enabling teachers to provide individualized support.

In this context, the AI-based learning material "Surara Drill" has functions to visualize students' learning status, analyze the causes of struggles, and provide individualized review assignments. By utilizing learning logs, teachers can also use this data to support daily lessons, leading to effective individualized instruction.

This demonstration also focuses on challenges specific to grade levels and subjects. For 6th-grade mathematics in elementary school, leading into junior high school...