I-Corps: Phygital Math Play

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是在资源不足的社区的课后或夏季充实环境中教授数学。该项目将培养一批训练有素的大学生数学导师，让更年轻的学生参与针对数学的全套数字学习和指导服务。该计划可以整合到现有的学术丰富计划的活动中，例如与基督教青年会，男孩和女孩俱乐部和其他私人实体有关的活动。因为这些训练有素的导师都是公司雇佣的大学生，他们通常已经在课后项目中做志愿者了，所以这些私人供应商有动力与PI的团队合作，并利用他们的服务。通过加强校外的课堂学习来提高标准化考试成绩是学区和学校的一项价值主张。家长们也看到了孩子获得完整的高中文凭的重要性，这是基于标准化考试成绩的。这个I-Corps项目利用一个基于游戏的学习平台，使用流行动作游戏的形式来实施数学课。用户界面是一个三维的第一人称环境，可以显示在个人电脑，移动设备或适应虚拟现实系统。一旦进入游戏，给学生的场景就会教授数学技巧背后的基本原理。游戏场景可以编译成与标准化测试一致的完整课程。数字体验随后在课后由训练有素的数学导师在物理空间中加强。《物理数学游戏》的前提是，物理和数字游戏体验可以作为K-12年级学习数学的激励工具。就像玩家之间的关系纽带是数字游戏的重要组成部分一样，师徒关系也将在实体游戏中得到发展和培养。这项冒险的一个重要因素是在高等教育机构与其周边学区之间建立指导基础设施。项目组声称，在少数族裔服务机构的20英里范围内，不应该有陷入困境的学区。为此，本科生导师将接受培训，以帮助加强将物理游戏和数字应用体验与铅笔纸计算联系起来的数学概念。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to teach math in after-school or summer enrichment settings located in under-resourced communities. This project will result in cohorts of trained college student math mentors engaging younger students in the full set of digital learning and mentoring services aimed at mathematics. This program can be integrated into the activities of existing academic enrichment program, such as those associated with the YMCA, Boys and Girls Clubs and other private entities. Because the trained mentors are college students employed by the company and often already volunteering for the afterschool programs, there is incentive for such private providers to partner with the PI's team and utilize their services. Increasing standardized test scores by reinforcing classroom learning in out-of-school settings is a value proposition for school districts and schools. Parents also see the importance of their children receiving a full high school diploma, which is predicated on standardized test scores.This I-Corps project utilizes a game-based learning platform which uses the format of popular action games to implement math lessons. The user interface is a three-dimensional first-person environment which can be displayed on a personal computer, mobile device or adapted to a virtual reality system. Once in play, the scenarios given to the student teach the underlying principles behind math techniques. Gaming scenarios can compile to span full curriculums aligned with standardized tests. The digital experience is then reinforced in physical space by trained math mentors in after-school settings, Phygital Math Play rests on the premise that Physical and Digital gaming experiences can be used as motivational tools to learn mathematics in grades K-12. Just as the relational bonds between gamers is a crucial component of digital games, the mentor-mentee relationship will be developed and cultivated for physical play. An important element for this venture is building a mentoring infrastructure between institutions of higher learning and their surrounding school districts. The project team asserts that there should be no distressed school district within 20 miles of a minority-serving institution. To that end, undergraduate mentors will be trained to help reinforce the math concepts linking physical play and digital application experience to pencil-paper computation.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.