MATH:EAGER: Improving Algebra Web-Native Learning Material via Real-Life Applications and Games

学生们在进入大学时经常面临的障碍之一是能够驾驭代数和/或发展数学，每年全国都有大量学生参加这些课程。该项目将开发新的代数和发展性数学学习材料和方法，专门针对低年级大学生。该项目将建立在一种新的网络原生方法的基础上，这种方法已经被证明可以改善大学生的学习和成功的结果。这种方法涉及的材料有更少的文本和更少的视频讲座，而是包括更多的动画，广泛的学习问题，以及探索/修补/练习的工具，自动生成，自动评分的挑战活动无缝集成在整个材料中。该项目将侧重于创造和整合与大学生相关的概念的现实应用。该项目还将创建和整合基于网络的活动，帮助学生掌握技能并建立对数学概念的直觉。研究表明，学生在类似竞争的环境中参与实际应用可以大大提高数学学习成果。该项目将创造并整合这些方面到最先进的数学学习材料中，争取众多大学采用这些材料，并通过多项研究评估和研究这些材料的有效性。该项目将开发以多种方式与大学生对话的应用程序，包括与以下内容相关：(1)大学生当前和近期的个人生活（如租公寓或决定手机套餐）；(2)学生未来的职业（例如，执行基本的会计或理解对照研究的结果）；(3)学生对现实世界问题的理解（如环境变化、大学教育的价值或世界贫困）。该项目将开发适合大学年龄学生的学习活动-自我或小组竞争环境，培养学生的技能，直觉和对基本核心概念的深刻理解。该项目将进行随机对照研究和跨学期分析，以确定此类应用程序和学习环境对学生学习和成功的影响，以及对学生态度与传统学习材料和方法的影响。这些材料和方法的设计将促进广泛采用，从而通过提高学生在代数和发展数学方面的学习，提高学生在大学取得全面成功的潜力。

One of the hurdles students often face when they enter college is to be able to navigate through algebra and/or developmental mathematics, and a large number of students across the country are enrolled in these courses in each year. This project will develop new algebra and developmental mathematics learning material and approaches specifically targeted to lower division college students. The project will build on a new web-native approach already shown to improve college-student learning and success outcomes. That approach involves material having less text and fewer video lectures, and, instead, includes more animations, extensive learning questions, and tools for exploring/tinkering/practicing with auto-generated, auto-graded challenge activities seamlessly integrated throughout the material. The project will focus on creating and integrating real-life applications of concepts relevant to college students. The project also will create and integrate web-based activities that help students to master skills and build intuition of mathematical concepts. Research has shown that student engagement with real-life applications in competition-like settings can improve mathematics learning outcomes substantially. This project will create and integrate those aspects into state-of-the-art mathematics learning material, garner adoption of the material by numerous colleges, and evaluate and conduct research on the material's effectiveness via multiple studies.The project will develop applications that speak to college students in several ways, including relevance to: (1) college students' current and near-future personal lives (such as renting an apartment or deciding among mobile phone plans); (2) students' future careers (for example, performing basic accounting or understanding results of controlled studies); and (3) students' understanding of real-world issues (such as environmental change, the value of a college education, or world poverty). The project will develop learning activities both suitable and engaging for college-age students - self or small group competitive settings that foster students' skills, intuition, and deep understanding related to fundamental core concepts. The project will conduct controlled randomized studies, as well as cross-semester analyses, to determine the impact of such applications and learning environments on student learning and success as well as on student attitudes versus more traditional learning material and approaches. The materials and approaches will be designed to promote the facility of wide adoption, consequently enhancing the potential for overall student success in college through the improvement of student learning in algebra and developmental mathematics.