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Recent Submissions
Community Garden for Advanced Inclusive R&D Report Opportunity Studies 2023
(2024) Garron Hillaire, Chris Liang-Vergara, Marisa Gomez, Yasmene Mumby, Malvika Bhagwat, Alex Casillas, Tadria Cardenas Rico, Dan Carroll, Leona Christy, Imani Goffney, Lacey Robinson, Awilda Rodriguez, Elena Sanina, Brian K. Smith, Maya Valencia Goodall, Ash Vasudeva, Jaya Yoo, Deborah Ball, Tarik Buli, Theodore Chao, Lisa Flores, Donna Y. Ford, Julia Freeland Fisher, Nidhi Hebbar, Owen Hinds, Kevin Hudson, Xiomara Iraheta, Madison Jacobs, Dawan Julien, Katherine Lebioda, Dallas Lee, Kim Lijana, Tanya Maloney, Matt McQuillen, Maxine McKinney de Royston, Norma Ortiz McCormick, Dennis Pooler, Gabriela Rivera, Jennifer Turner, Jose Vilson, Jessica Bee, Hodari Davis, Holly Hofmann, Joy Kayode, Nathalie Lopez, Kourtnie Nunley, Alan Oviedo, Elena Scheiner, Harrison Schell, Sara Skvirsky, Jittaun Taylor, Anissia West, Melina Uncapher
Students who are Black and Latino and all students who are experiencing
poverty are disproportionately impacted by educational inequity. For every
student to emerge as a global leader, educational research and development (R&D) must follow new and boldly transformative practices.
Greater transparency for pre-funded research ideas would make funding decisions more equitable, reduce redundant efforts, break down silos, and increase collaboration. Inclusive educational R&D can develop underrepresented leaders, protect their intellectual property, and help them pursue breakthrough ideas, which often emerge from uncommon conversations. When supported by community evaluation, Advanced Inclusive R&D can demonstrate promising levels of quality, craft, and potential impact.
We gathered a passionate community of experts who are committed to reshaping education over the next 10 to 20 years. They became the AERDF Community Garden. Using our Advanced Inclusive R&D process, we uncovered research opportunities connected to three focus areas that affect educational inequity: income inequality, sustainable teaching, and student-centered learning. This report explains the process we used to identify fundable initiatives and includes six example Opportunity Studies.
Knowledge is powerful. Advanced Inclusive R&D is a call to coordinate research efforts and expand our collective knowledge. We must work collaboratively to support all youth and the future of our nation.
Testing the Benefits of an Embedded Math Fluency and Executive Function Intervention in Children
(2022-06-01) Feng, Y., Buschkuehl, M., Grose, G., Jaeggi, S. M., Ramani, G., Ghil, E., & DePascale, M.
Math fluency, the ability to solve arithmetic problems quickly and accurately, is highly predictive for future math achievement. A lack in math fluency skills results in individuals devoting more cognitive resources to executive functions to solve math problems. In addition to this compensatory relationship, executive function skills contribute to math learning, thus, there is a bidirectional relationship between math and executive function skills. We created a novel intervention to maximize math learning by embedding executive function training within math fluency training. Consisting of three games that can be played on mobile devices, our intervention requires the retrieval of arithmetic facts while also completing increasingly difficult working memory and inhibitory control tasks. Three fourth grade and two fifth grade classrooms were assigned to either a training group that was asked to play the games at least four times per week over the course of three weeks, or a waitlist control group. Before and after the intervention, all participants were assessed on math fluency and executive functions, and in addition, they rated their perceptions of their own strengths in these skills. In this presentation, we will report the outcomes of the intervention by comparing pre- and post-outcomes for the two groups and by illustrating whether and how self-reported strengths relate to pre-existing skills and training effects.
Cultivating Mathematicians: When DEI Drives Design
(2022-09-30) Skaggs, K.
MIND Research Institute blogs highlight best practices in math education, blended learning and innovative learning strategies that inspire students at all ages. The blog Cultivating Mathematicians:When DEI Drives Design features the work we are doing with MathicSTEAM.
People, Process, and Penguins: Designing Math Experiences
(2021-10-13) Coffey, B., Ching, A., Young, T., & Feldmann, M.
Our latest episode features a recent panel discussion about MIND's design approach to ST Math and other learning experiences we create for schools, students and families. Co-hosts Senior Academic Director Brian Coffey and Curriculum Developer Alyssa Ching interview our VP of Curriculum & Instruction Twana Young and VP of Product Matt Feldmann about user feedback, neuroscience, designing for all students, and of course, our beloved penguin JiJi.
Fraction Ball: Playful and Physically Active Fraction and Decimal Learning
(American Psychological Association, 2022) Bustamante, Andres S., Begolli, Kreshnik N., Alvarez-Vargas, Daniela, Bailey, Drew H., Richland, Lindsey E.
This study tested a novel approach to capitalizing on the benefits of play for informal math learning. Two experiments evaluated a platform called “Fraction Ball,” that provides an embodied, playful, and physically active learning experience by modifying the lines on a basketball court to support rational number learning. In the Pilot Experiment, 69 fifth–sixth graders were randomly assigned to play a set of four different Fraction Ball games or attend normal physical education (PE) class and completed rational number pretests and posttests. After strategic improvements to expand the intervention, the same protocol was implemented in the Efficacy Experiment with 160 fourth–sixth graders. Playing Fraction Ball for four PE class periods (Pilot Experiment) improved students’ ability to convert fractions to decimals. Playing a revised version of six different Fraction Ball games for six PE class periods (Efficacy Experiment) significantly improved children’s rational number understanding as reflected by higher scores in overall accuracy, with positive impacts on several subtests. Fraction Ball represents a low-cost, highly scalable intervention that promotes math learning in a fun and engaging approach.
(PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved)