Grounded in Research. Designed for Real Life.
Tanglio combines executive functioning research with evidence-informed coaching approaches.
The skills behind getting things done.
Executive functioning skills contribute to how we plan, organize, start tasks, manage time, hold information in mind, monitor our own progress, and keep working toward goals.
College asks students to use these skills constantly and independently, often for the first time without the structure of home or high school.
Tanglio provides opportunities to practice these skills in authentic academic contexts: real assignments, real deadlines, real weeks.
How the research shows up in Tanglio.
Motivational Interviewing
Motivational interviewing principles inform autonomy-supportive interactions, exploration of goals, and student-centered conversations.
Tanglio's AI draws on these principles in how it asks and responds. It is not therapy, and it is not a substitute for professional motivational interviewing.
Collaborative Problem Solving
Collaborative problem solving informs how Tanglio helps identify barriers, understand the student's perspective, and develop workable strategies together rather than prescribing them.
Individualization
Tanglio uses student profiles, goals, academic information, and relevant activity to personalize recommendations and support.
Technology that complements people.
Tanglio is designed to complement human coaching rather than replace professional relationships.
What AI can support
Organization, reflection, planning, and documentation.
What human coaches contribute
Judgment, relationships, individualized problem solving, and accountability.
Clear about what research shows, and what it does not yet.
The practices Tanglio draws on, including executive functioning support, motivational interviewing, and collaborative problem solving, have their own research foundations.
That research supports the underlying practices. It is not an evaluation of Tanglio itself, and we do not claim that Tanglio improves retention, GPA, graduation, or clinical outcomes.
Tanglio is not a diagnostic or clinical tool. We welcome research partnerships that help evaluate it rigorously.
Connect as a Research PartnerThe ideas behind the approach.
These sources inform the underlying practices, not claims that Tanglio itself has been proven effective.
Executive functioning
Diamond, A. (2013). Executive Functions (opens in a new tab). Annual Review of Psychology, 64, 135–168.
A review of executive functions, including working memory, inhibition, and cognitive flexibility.
Self-regulated learning
Zimmerman, B. J. (2002). Becoming a Self-Regulated Learner: An Overview (opens in a new tab). Theory Into Practice, 41(2).
A theoretical overview of goal setting, self-monitoring, and reflection in learning.
Motivational interviewing
Miller, W. R., & Rollnick, S. (2013). Motivational Interviewing: Helping People Change (opens in a new tab). 3rd edition. Guilford Press.
A foundational text on collaborative conversations that respect a person's autonomy and motivation.
Collaborative problem solving
Greene, R. W., Ablon, J. S., & Goring, J. C. (2003). A transactional model of oppositional behavior: Underpinnings of the Collaborative Problem Solving approach (opens in a new tab). Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 55(1), 67–75.
Describes the approach in a child clinical context; it is not evidence about college students or Tanglio.
Postsecondary EF support
Parker, D. R., & Boutelle, K. (2009). Executive Function Coaching for College Students with Learning Disabilities and ADHD: A New Approach for Fostering Self-Determination (opens in a new tab). Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 24(4), 204–215.
Reports students' experiences of coaching, including interviews with seven students; not a test of Tanglio or proof of improved academic outcomes.
Partner with us on research.
We invite programs and researchers to help evaluate Tanglio through carefully scoped collaborations. Areas of interest include real-world use, implementation and the student experience.
We are exploring
- Student engagement patterns
- Executive functioning development
- Follow-through and completion
- Behavior over time
We are seeking
- Research collaborators
- Pilot partners
- Ed tech faculty