EF+Math

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https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14099/4

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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)
Evidence-based Designs for Physically Active and Playful Math Learning
(Theory into Practice, Taylor & Francis, 2023-05-08) Daniela Alvarez-Vargas, Jessica Paola Lopez Perez, Vanessa Noemy Bermudez, Susana Beltrán-Grimm, Evelyn Santana, Kreshnik Begolli & Andres Sebastian Bustamante
In this article, we demonstrate how playful learning serves to provide optimal learning opportunities through teacher-guided play. First, we describe the theoretical design principles that can be leveraged to support mathematical learning for students that have been underserved. Then, we provide concrete examples of evidence-based games that can be directly applied by teachers within their classrooms and beyond the classrooms into the schoolyard. Lastly, we conclude with a detailed graphical tutorial showcasing how the research literature and evidence-based classroom learning activities inform the development of 2 different mathematics games that supplement classroom instruction. We share the design of whole number and rational number basketball games to emphasize how teachers, administrators, and policymakers can replicate these games in their own context. Overall, this work can inform administrators and policymakers on supporting math and physical education by developing guided activities that incorporate the principles of the science of learning, motivation, and physical education science to provide students with optimal math learning opportunities.
A Framework for Equity Centered Co-Design
(2022-03-04) DePiro, Allison, Winger, Aris, Rhodes, Sam, & Sethuraman, Sheela
Exploring Factors Influencing Success in Mathematical Problem Solving
(2023) Rhodes, S., Bryck, R., Gutierrez de Blume, A., DePiro, A.
We report the results of a study that employed a hierarchical linear regression analysis to examine the factors that influenced the problem-solving scores in a sample of 213 sixth and seventh grade students. Results support theoretical predictions that metacognition, executive function, student beliefs, and content knowledge all relate to problem solving proficiency.
Elevating Effective Mathematics Teaching Strategies to Support Executive Function Skills via Equity Approaches
(2023-07-18) Kai Ivory, Megan Brunner
Toward Breakthrough Outcomes with Inclusive Research and Development
(2021-08) Melina Uncapher, Curtis Taylor, David Webb
Our nation’s students deserve access to high-quality instruction and tools that support their academic and social emotional development; however, we lack the infrastructure to connect rigorous research with real-world educators and developers who can build useful and usable tools that can be adopted at scale. The EF+Math Program is creating a novel infrastructure for rich collaboration between researchers, educators, and developers to build educational tools that are grounded in rigorous research and designed to find solutions to the most persistent educational inequities in math classrooms. Through our model of Inclusive R&D, we draw on the assets of research, practice, and design to bridge the gap between learning science and classroom practice. The goal of EF+Math is to dramatically improve math outcomes for students in grades 3–8, with a focus on Black and Latinx students and students living in poverty, by strengthening executive functioning skills. We hypothesize that building equitable math learning tools requires an equitable process of discovery and development. Inclusive R&D is an equity centered and inclusive process for developing innovative programs, which utilizes a set of principles and practices to center students, educators, families, and communities that are often left out of research methods and of other human-centered design methods. Inclusive R&D brings people together to ideate, build, and iterate together in an ongoing feedback loop that removes the silos between discovery, development, and adoption. In sharing our story in this International Mind, Brain, and Education Society Conference session, our hope is that you identify opportunities for your own work in bridging research and practice, as we collectively make progress towards breakthrough outcomes for students.
Strengthening Executive Function Skills in Mathematics via Equity Approaches: An Overview - and an Opportunity
(2023-11-08) Megan Brunner, Debbra Lindo, Curtis Taylor, Luis Torres
Research suggests that strengthening students’ executive function within math contexts leads to gains in mathematics achievement. So, how can you support students’ executive function skills during math instruction? In this Charter Schools Development Center conference session, EF+Math, a program of non-profit education organization the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF), will provide participants an overview of executive function skills in mathematics, along with best practices for their development. Then, EF+Math will share a set of curricular approaches designed with and for teachers, which have shown improvements in students’ executive functioning and math learning in grades 3-8. Attendees will have the opportunity to join EF+Math as part of their ongoing research and development efforts to improve student learning in equitable and inclusive ways, including access to these tools and partnership with the EF+Math community.
Fueling an Inclusive R&D Approach to Education Research and Development
(2022-10-17) Melina Uncapher, Aubrey Francisco, Enid Rosario, Karin Lange, Deb Lindo, Tyron Young, Andres Bustamante, Karina Rodriguez, Diana Torres
Centering Student and Educator Voice and Expertise in Inclusive, Equity-Centered Research and Development
(2023-04-13) Aubrey Francisco, Karin Lange, Adam Smith, Maria Benzon, Allison DePiro, Caroline Hornburg, Amanda Mayes, Audrey Diaz, Danielle Letts, Sandra Kunze
Inclusive R&D is an equity-centered, inclusive process for developing innovative research programs in partnership with students, educators, families, and communities. This symposium will showcase specific results of two R&D projects - CueThinkEF+ and Our Mathematical World - and an analysis of six projects actively engaging students and educators in Inclusive R&D. The CueThinkEF+ team will share the process and outcomes of deeply integrating teacher expertise as they sought to develop and improve a web-based learning system focused on rich mathematics problem solving and discourse. Then, the Our Mathematical World team will share their journey in the development of a mathematics curriculum overlay in which 3rd-5th grade students design stories that center themselves as strong mathematical problem solvers.
Improving Measurement Practices through Equity-Forward Instrument Adaptation
(2023-09-30) Adam Smith, Megan Brunner, Michelle Tiu, Ryan Baker
Embedding an Equity Orientation in Pursuit of Evidence of Educational Improvement
(2023-09-30) Megan Brunner, Michelle Tiu, Adam Smith, Karen Douglas, Alex Resch
This EF+Math presentation from the Society of Research on Educational Effectiveness (SREE) 2023 conference focuses on how to determine what counts as equitable evidence of educational improvement. EF+Math shares its efforts to create an environment in which evidence is contextualized in ways that align with commitments to equity.
Creating Tools for Equitable Research and Development
(2022-09-24) Melina Uncapher, Ryan Baker, Yun-En Liu, Richard Prather, Geetha Ramani, Adam Smith
The EF+Math Program supports four Applied Research teams developing new tools for assessing and monitoring executive functioning and math skills for use in the field. Technical innovations developed by the Applied Research teams are meant to be modular solutions that can work across multiple learning systems and make student learning visible to guide actionable next steps for learning. Further, these innovations are specifically designed to increase the capacity of developers to provide reliable and useful data for Black students, Latinx students, and all students experiencing poverty. This panel discussion at the Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness conference features a moderator from the EF+Math Program, researchers from the four Applied Research teams, and the EF+Math Program’s Designing for Equity Manager, as they share their process in designing these new tools through an equity lens.
Building Research Programs on a Foundation of Equity
(2022-09-23) Michelle Tiu, Adam Smith, Deb Lindo, Jeannette Franklin, Jenny Bradbury, Karin Lange
Strategies to Infuse Executive Function Supports into Middle Grades Math Classrooms
(2023-10-25) Michelle Tiu, Karin Lange, Rebecca Merkeley, Melina Uncapher
Improving Executive Function (EF) skills is a powerful lever to support students in becoming proficient mathematics learners. Join us in this National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Meeting session to learn how various strategies to strengthen and support EF skills in math classrooms have been implemented in math learning prototypes and how you can use these strategies to support math learning in your own classroom.
Improving Math Learning with Executive Function Skills and Inclusive R&D
(2023-10-24) Adam Smith, Megan Brunner, Karin Lange
EF+Math, a community of researchers, developers, educators, and students, is developing research-informed mathematics learning approaches for grades 3-8 that combine executive function (EF) skills, conceptual understanding and multi-step problem solving, and equity. After three years of Inclusive R&D, preliminary data suggest many of our approaches are improving mathematics learning. We are simultaneously increasing knowledge of the relationship between mathematics learning and EF skills. The attention to equity and educator voice in the R&D process is producing approaches that are aligned with classroom practice. This session will engage participants in examining the findings from a portfolio thematic analysis, with perspectives from various teams, including both educators and researchers. We will then discuss the implications and applications of this work with all session participants, focusing on promising opportunities for integrating EF and equity within math learning experiences, and ways researchers and educators can collaborate together to do so.
EF+Math Collection of Resources
(2021) EF+Math Program
In this document, the EF+Math team shares readings and resources provided to participants in the Facilitated Team Development process (a track we created to allow individual participants to find team members and co-create multi-disciplinary EF+Math proposals together).The lists are not meant to be exhaustive but rather help provide relevant perspectives and background materials for you to generate big ideas at the intersection of equity, executive functions, and mathematics. Please also see our recently published primer for a consolidated perspective on relevant research findings.
Developing Education Products with Equity at the Center: Learnings from the EF+Math Program
(2021) EF+Math Program

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