Randomized experimental comparisons of alternative pedagogical strategies could provide useful empirical evidence in instructors' decision-making. However, traditional experiments do not have a clear and simple pathway to using data rapidly to try to increase the chances that students in an experiment get the best conditions. Drawing inspiration from the use of machine learning and experimentation in product development at leading technology companies, we explore how adaptive experimentation might help in continuous course improvement. In adaptive experiments, as different arms/conditions are deployed to students, data is analyzed and used to change the experience for future students. This can be done using machine learning algorithms to identify which actions are more promising for improving student experience or outcomes. This algorithm can then dynamically deploy the most effective conditions to future students, resulting in better support for students' needs. We illustrate the approach with a case study providing a side-by-side comparison of traditional and adaptive experimentation of self-explanation prompts in online homework problems in a CS1 course. This provides a first step in exploring the future of how this methodology can be useful in bridging research and practice in doing continuous improvement.

利用机器学习算法进行自适应试验可以在教学改进中提供更好的支持，此方法可以通过随机实验比较传统和自适应试验来探索如何在研究和实践中进行持续改进。

为平衡讲师和研究者激励而开展的持续改进的自适应实验的机遇