High School Success Deluxe is a learning suite by Topics Learning geared for students in grades 9-12 (ages 14-18). In it you'll find content on algebra, American history, American government, geometry, writing, biology and chemistry. For the purposes of this review, we only considered the content of the science sections: biology and chemistry.
We were quite impressed with the science sections of this educational science software. Because the content is set up like a high school textbook, a student could work though this material on her own—as a comprehensive course—or she could use it to supplement her school coursework. The interface is clean and useful; the application makes good use of the best teaching tools; the content is suitable for high school students interested in learning basic biology and chemistry; and tracking tools allow parents, teachers and students to see their progress. High School Success Deluxe excels in all these areas, and thus earns its spot as our TopTenREVIEWS Gold Award winner for educational science software.
While we can't speak for the other subject areas of High School Success Deluxe, the science sections of this application are impressive. It is structured like a basic high school textbook, with chapters and lessons that build on each other. Science material in this application is complex enough for a high school course, but the text manages to explain difficult concepts in clear (and even engaging) language. The text is split into manageable chunks by effective use of color, headings, subheadings and page breaks. The text is also full of colorful graphics—diagrams, drawings, photographs, etc.—that aptly illustrate the science concepts being discussed.
Each chapter is split into several lessons, and many of the lessons include additional content in the form of animated lessons or interactive exercises. A large navigation area at the top of the screen alerts users when these activities are available for a given lesson. All of the animated lessons use audio (voice-overs or sound effects) to enhance or reinforce the concept being taught. These lessons are not simply a repetition of ideas already taught in the text, but they instead complement the text and increase the student's learning. For example, in a biology lesson on Darwin and his observations of finches on the Galapagos Islands, there is an animated lesson in which a student can explore more detailed information about the different species of finches.
For each chapter, there is a brief quiz for students to test their understanding. Once they submit their answers, they are given immediate feedback on a screen that shows which questions they got wrong and which they got right, as well as a percentage score and the amount of time they took. If students click on a question number, they're taken back to that question and shown the answer—along with a brief explanation as to why the right answer is, in fact, the right one. Quizzes can be retaken as many times as needed. The application also records a student's progress on the quizzes, and can report the number of times a given quiz has been taken, the score for each attempt and an average score.
High School Success Deluxe also boasts a bookmark feature that allows a user to collect links to pages they want to be able to find again. There is also a keyword search function that will help students track down specific information. Packaging and promotional material for High School Success Deluxe heralds study materials that are compatible with iPod and iPhone. While this is indeed true, be aware that those materials are currently limited, and most of them are centered on mathematics. There are no iPod-compatible study materials available for science subjects.
One unique feature of this educational science software is the study log. High School Success Deluxe will track which lessons have been viewed, when each lesson was accessed, and for how long each page was viewed. This allows students to see where they've already been, but it also allows parents or teachers to track the time a student has spent on a subject. A very short time may indicate a rushed understanding. A long time may mean that topic is a particularly difficult one for that student and he may need additional help.
The High School Success Deluxe sections on biology and chemistry cover an impressive amount of topics for basic high school courses. They are sufficiently in-depth to challenge any high school student, but the difficult concepts are well-explained through easy-to-read text, audio explanations, graphics, visual aids and animated lessons.
The biology section contains 12 chapters split into 146 lessons. There are also 77 animated lessons and over 220 quiz questions to supplement the text. Chapter titles in the biology section include: Biological Compounds, Cell Structure, Cell Metabolism, Cell Reproduction, Genetics, Evolution, Diversity of Life, Ecology, Human Biology: Systems Structure and function, and Classification of the Animal Kingdom.
The chemistry section contains 25 chapters split into 199 lessons. Additionally, 76 animated lessons supplement the text and over 320 quiz questions test students' learning. Chapter titles in the chemistry section include: Structure of the Atom, Compounds, The Mole Concept, The Periodic Table, Chemical Reactions & Bonding, Chemical Equations, Chemical Equilibrium, Oxidation-Reduction Reactions, Stoichiometry, Thermodynamics, Gases, Solids and Liquids, Solutions, Acids and Bases, Electrochemistry, Metals, Organic Chemistry, and Nuclear Chemistry.
High School Success Deluxe comes with a brief installation guide, though we had no trouble installing the application. The features in this educational science software are also easy to use. The layout is clean and logical. Large icons on either side of the learning area navigate to the main menu, to quizzes, to other chapters and to progress reports. And handy roll-over text tells you exactly what each icon will do before you click it. Overall, the application is straightforward and simple to use.
This educational science software had one of the best in-program help options available. A large question mark at the bottom of the screen takes to you a detailed, step-by-step explanation of all the features and uses of the application. Although everything about this application is already pretty intuitive, it was nice to have such well-thought-out instructions—complete with screen shots, arrows and explanatory text—about how it's set up.
The only printed help or documentation included with the application is a brief installation guide. However, the Topics Learning website has a decent support section with FAQs listed for many of their products as well as an email form for requesting additional technical support. On the website, they also offer software updates that you can check for and download.
As far as educational science software is concerned, High School Success Deluxe takes the cake. Comprehensive learning content as well as a variety of teaching tools make this application stand out among its peers. Additionally, the software is easy to use and allows parents or teachers (or the student himself) to track the progress he's made through tools like the Study Log and the Quiz Report. Whether students use this application as their main science instruction or use it to supplement their school course work, High School Success Deluxe will not disappoint.
