SBIR Phase II: Meaningful Sketching and Meaningful Struggle in STEM Education

这个SBIR第二阶段项目将开发一个个性化的学习环境，指导学生有效地使用科学技术工程和数学（STEM）的教育素描。据估计，未来十年美国需要100多万名STEM专业人员。然而，STEM专业学生的辍学率从48%到69%不等。最近美国数学教育的改革集中在素描和建模上，这样学生就能更好地理解他们正在解决的问题，而不是死记硬背。草图对于提高工程、医学和科学中三维形状的可视化能力也很重要。教学素描已被证明可以提高50%以上的学生进入大学与低空间可视化技能，特别是在妇女和其他代表性不足的少数民族的STEM保留。然而，传统的纸上素描方法需要教学专业知识和课堂时间，这限制了它的使用。我们的触摸屏软件将改善在纸上素描，通过提供即时反馈和智能提示，当学生卡住。我们的方法的一个关键优势是，它可以通过让学生重新尝试素描作业直到他们做对为止来奖励坚持，而不是只能尝试一次的多项选择题。影响将包括提高K-6数学和STEM教育中各个层面的概念理解。该项目将开发一个智能学习环境，学生可以在触摸屏手机，平板电脑或电脑上徒手素描。他们将收到基于他们绘制的草图的个性化反馈，以提高他们的概念理解和促进持久性。开发的软件算法将自动为学生的草图打分，并提供足以让学生参与的提示，但不会泄露解决方案。一个专业的老师知道，发展技能和增加毅力需要学生在克服障碍学习新概念时付出一些努力。解释学生草图和提供提示的算法将模仿专家教师从学生的肩膀上看过去。通过解释学生在草图中的意图，该算法将能够区分有意的标记和由于协调不良或草率而无意的标记。学科领域包括小学数学，7- 12年级技术教育的空间可视化，中学后职业和工程课程，最终包括物理，地质，医学和其他STEM领域。该项目将取代纸笔素描与广泛使用的触摸屏，并使教育素描更有效和引人入胜。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过评估使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准的支持。

This SBIR Phase II project will develop a personalized learning environment for guiding students in effective use of educational sketching in Science Technology Engineering and Math (STEM). There is an estimated need for 1 million more STEM professionals in the U.S. over the next decade. However, the dropout rate for students in STEM majors ranges from 48% to 69%. Recent reform in mathematics education in the U.S. has focused on sketching and modeling so that students have a better understanding of the problems they are solving rather than rote memorization. Sketching is also important for improving the ability to visualize three dimensional shapes in engineering, medicine, and science. Teaching sketching has been shown to increase retention in STEM by over 50% among students entering college with low spatial visualization skills, especially among women and other underrepresented minorities. However, the traditional method of sketching on paper requires teaching expertise and classroom time, which has limited its use. Our touchscreen software will improve upon sketching on paper, by providing immediate feedback and intelligent hints when students are stuck. A key advantage of our approach is that it can reward persistence by having students retry a sketching assignment until they get it right, as opposed to multiple-choice questions that can only be tried once. Impact will include improved conceptual understanding in K-6 mathematics and STEM education at all levels.This project will develop an intelligent learning environment where students can freehand sketch on a touchscreen phone, tablet, or computer. They will receive personalized feedback based on the sketches they draw to improve their conceptual understanding and promote persistence. The software algorithms developed will automatically grade student sketches and provide hints that are just enough to keep the student engaged but not so much as to give away the solution. An expert teacher knows that developing skill and increasing persistence requires that students struggle a bit as they overcome obstacles to learn new concepts. The algorithm for interpreting student sketches and providing hints will mimic an expert teacher looking over the shoulder of the student. By interpreting student intent in their sketches, the algorithm will be able to distinguish between intentional marks and unintentional ones that are due to poor coordination or sloppiness. Subject areas include elementary school mathematics, spatial visualization for 7-12th grade technical education, post-secondary vocational and engineering programs, and eventually physics, geology, medicine and other STEM areas. This project will replace sketching on paper and pencil with widely available touchscreens, and make educational sketching more effective and engaging.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.