Low student engagement with assigned course materials and unpreparedness for class are two of the top pain points for instructors. But, what if you could ensure that every student understood and completed assignments and came to class confident and ready to participate? You'd get back valued class time to focus on teaching instead of reviewing. VitalSource is committed to creating products that are based on learning science, and we fulfill that mission by developing and studying new technologies and partnering with instructors to identify impactful implementation practices. Bookshelf, VitalSource's premier digital content platform, recently introduced a new built-in power feature, Bookshelf CoachMe, that is designed to improve the overall study experience for students by helping them discover what they already know so they can focus on what they need to learn.

Robotics has come a long way in the past few years. Robots can now fetch items from specific spots in massive warehouses, swim through the ocean to study marine life, and lift 200 times their own weight. They can even perform synchronized dance routines. But the really big question is--can robots put together an Ikea chair? A team of engineers from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore decided to find out, detailing their work in a paper published last week in the journal Science Robotics.