Early Math Learning and Assessment Software for Students and Teachers

该项目解决了一个日益严重的国家问题：美国K-12学生在数学学习的国家和国际比较中表现不佳。虽然美国学生的考试成绩往往随着时间的推移而下降，但美国数学教育的问题可以追溯到小学年级。太多的小学低年级学生只学到了两个关于数学的事实：（1）他们讨厌数学，（2）他们不擅长数学，他们的老师大多是多面手，他们在学校里学到了同样痛苦的教训。近年来在早期数学教育研究方面取得的巨大进展对这些教师的影响很小。我们建议将这项研究付诸实践，为学生创造参与计算机为基础的数学活动，在课堂上使用它们来促进学习和评估学习成果，并将这些评估链接到一个手持PDA，教师将使用它来指导他们的工作与学生。教师所做的观察将反过来链接回学生软件，并用于排序和配置额外的数学活动。为了实施该项目，教育网络服务（ENS）汇集了一个共生团队，与来自无线一代（WG）和哥伦比亚师范学院的合作者。学生活动将基于“数字”，这是ENS开发的一个有趣的数学环境，可以编写脚本并用于向学生提出挑战，并指导他们解决问题。Numbles软件的原型已经在15名学龄前儿童中试用，发现它具有吸引力和数学思维的挑衅性。在拟议的项目中，我们将继续这项工作，创造适合幼儿园和一年级和二年级学生的有趣的数学活动。我们将在位于马萨诸塞州和纽约市的三所学校，两所郊区学校和一所城市学校，对这些活动进行评估。在与WG的同事合作中，我们将把我们的Numbles活动链接到WG的m-CLASS：数学诊断软件。该项目将把以科学为基础的早期数学教育研究的结果为课堂教师服务，同时评估创造一个创新和成功的商业产品的可行性。项目叙述：用总统的国家数学顾问小组的话来说，“全国越来越关注年轻人的数学能力..目前的证据有力地表明，美国没有以足够的严谨性和远见来更新其劳动力。“（Panel 2007）。该项目将通过一种独特的技术组合来解决这一挑战，旨在帮助学生学习，教师在小学低年级教授基本的数学概念。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project addresses a growing national problem: the poor performance of American K-12 students on national and international comparisons of mathematics learning. Although the test scores of U.S. students tend to deteriorate over time, the problems of American math education can be traced back to the elementary grades. All too many students in the early elementary grades learn only two facts about math: (1) they hate it, and (2) they are not very good at it. Their teachers, for the most part, are generalists who learned the same painful lesson when they were in school. The enormous progress made in recent years in early math education research has little effect on these teachers. We propose to put that research into practice by creating engaging computer-based math activities for students, using them in the classroom both to promote learning and to assess learning gains, and linking these assessments to a hand-held PDA that teachers will use to guide their work with students. Observations made by the teacher will in turn be linked back to the student software and used to sequence and configure additional math activities. To carry out the project, Educational Network Services (ENS) has brought together a symbiotic team, with collaborators from Wireless Generation (WG) and Columbia Teachers College. The student activities will be based on "Numbles", a playful mathematical environment developed by ENS that can be scripted and used to pose challenges to students and guide them through the problem-solving process. A prototype of the Numbles software has already been piloted with 15 pre-school children and found to be engaging and provocative of mathematical thinking. In the proposed project we will carry this work forward to create playful math activities suitable for students in Kindergarten and first and second grades. We will evaluate these activities in three schools, two suburban and one urban, located in Massachusetts and New York City. In collaboration with colleagues from WG, we will link our Numbles activities to WG's m- CLASS:Math diagnostic software. This project will place the results of scientifically based early math education research at the service of classroom teachers, while evaluating the feasibility of creating an innovative and successful commercial product. Project Narrative: In the words of the President's National Mathematics Advisory Panel, "There is a growing national concern about the mathematical proficiency of young people... Present evidence strongly suggests that the United States is not renewing its workforce with adequate rigor and foresight." (Panel 2007). This project will address that challenge with a unique blend of technologies aimed at helping students learn, and teachers teach, fundamental mathematical concepts in the early elementary grades.