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

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，在未来十年，美国需要100多万STEM专业人员。然而，STEM专业学生的辍学率从48%到69%不等。美国最近的数学教育改革侧重于速写和建模，以便学生更好地理解他们正在解决的问题，而不是死记硬背。在工程、医学和科学领域，素描对于提高可视化三维形状的能力也很重要。研究表明，在空间可视化技能较低的大学新生中，教授素描可以将STEM的保留率提高50%以上，尤其是在女性和其他未被充分代表的少数族裔中。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。我们的触屏软件将改进在纸上的草图，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，它可以奖励坚持不懈的学生，让他们重新尝试一个素描作业，直到他们做对为止，而不是选择题，只能尝试一次。影响将包括提高各级K-6数学和STEM教育的概念理解。该项目将开发一个智能学习环境，学生可以在触摸屏手机、平板电脑或电脑上手绘素描。他们将根据所画的草图获得个性化的反馈，以提高他们对概念的理解并促进坚持。开发的软件算法将自动给学生的草图打分，并提供足够的提示，让学生参与其中，但不至于泄露解决方案。一位专业的老师知道，培养技能和增强毅力需要学生在克服障碍学习新概念的过程中付出一点努力。解释学生草图和提供提示的算法将模仿一位专家老师从学生的肩膀上看过去。通过解读学生在草图中的意图，该算法将能够区分有意标记和由于协调不佳或马虎而导致的无意标记。学科领域包括小学数学、7-12年级技术教育的空间可视化、高等职业和工程课程，以及物理、地质、医学和其他STEM领域。该项目将用广泛使用的触摸屏取代纸笔素描，并使教育素描更有效和吸引人。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。

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.