Former University of Utah student Mark Polson had classes, a job and a limited amount of time to study.
After planning ahead and calculating a certain amount of time per week for each task, Polson said he discovered a way to raise his grade point average. He said he thought his system could help other students and decided to develop an electronic version.
Polson, along with two former University of Utah students, Mac Newbold and Taylor Miller, founded Gradefix.com, a Web site that uses an algorithm to help students strategically plan their tasks around the amount of time they have available.
"A lot of what we do is just apply common sense to what students don't get done in homework and studying," said Newbold, Gradefix chief software architect. "It's not so much how much time you put in, but it's how you put in the time and use it in most effective ways."
The Web site originally was introduced Sept. 1, 2006, but a revised version was re-introduced Jan. 8 in response to user feedback, Newbold said. University of Utah professors, several textbooks and Web sites were consulted for research before the site was developed, Polson said.
Polson said the only marketing done for the site has been through a press release and several online technology reviews. Since the site is now used in more than 30 countries, Polson said he is in the process of adding translations for non-English speaking countries.
"The amazing thing about the Internet is just how people tell other people," Polson said. "Never in our wildest dreams would we have believed we would incorporate the whole world in 3 1/2 months."
There are two versions of Gradefix available - free and premium. The free version allows students to plan up to 10 tasks, or about two weeks, in advance. For $5 a month, students can access the premium version and plan up to six months in advance, Polson said. The first 30 days of the premium version are free of charge with no obligations, he said.
Polson said students should use caution with services like Gradefix.
"Gradefix doesn't do your homework for you; you still have to actually do it," Polson said. "We can't promise any results that you don't do for yourself. We can plan it out for you, but we can't do it for you."
While he had not seen Gradefix's site, Fred Newton, English and Counseling Services director, said it is not uncommon for students to use Web sites to plan their time. Newton said students should use similar sites to customize what works best for them.
"Any time you get something on the Internet, you have to measure it to what might work and what might not work - you can't formalize everything," he said. "Most of the Web sites have helpful tips that you can use, which is helpful to see what fits and what doesn't fit."
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