Deep Fractions Learning: A Core Curriculum of Games, Inquiry, and Collaboration

Teachley, Llc, New York NY

Investigators

Abstract

Project? ?Summary/Abstract There? ?is? ?an? ?enormous? ?deficit? ?in? ?students?? ?understanding? ?of? ?fractions? ?in? ?the? ?United? ?States. Fifth? ?grade? ?fraction? ?knowledge? ?predicts? ?high? ?school? ?math? ?performance,? ?even? ?when? ?controlling for? ?working? ?memory,? ?whole? ?number? ?knowledge,? ?IQ,? ?reading? ?ability,? ?and? ?demographic? ?factors (Siegler? ?et? ?al.,? ?2012).? ?Therefore,? ?addressing? ?this? ?deficit? ?is? ?a? ?particularly? ?important? ?area? ?for? ?early intervention.? ?With? ?this? ?Fast-Track? ?grant,? ??Deep? ?Fractions? ?Learning?,? ?we? ?propose? ?to? ?transform? ?the way? ?in? ?which? ?students? ?learn? ?core? ?math? ?curriculum? ?so? ?that? ?materials? ?are? ?more? ?interactive? ?and engaging,? ?promote? ?deeper? ?learning? ?of? ?content,? ?and? ?are? ?aligned? ?with? ?the? ?Common? ?Core.? ?More specifically,? ?we? ?will? ?develop? ?and? ?evaluate? ?a? ?digital? ?curriculum? ?for? ?grades? ?3-5? ?covering? ?the fractions? ?domain? ?that? ?combines? ?games,? ?collaboration,? ?and? ?an? ?inquiry? ?approach.? ?We? ?propose? ?to develop? ?an? ?innovative? ?technology? ?infrastructure? ?that? ?will? ?integrate? ?Teachley? ?learning? ?games, Success? ?for? ?All?s? ?(SFA)? ?cooperative? ?learning? ?framework,? ?and? ?rigorous? ?lesson? ?content.? ?We? ?will integrate? ?research? ?into? ?the? ?design? ?process? ?and? ?work? ?with? ?Johns? ?Hopkins? ?University? ?to? ?evaluate the? ?efficacy? ?of? ?the? ?intervention. Outcomes.? ??The? ?intervention? ?will? ?encourage? ?four? ?direct? ?outcomes? ?for? ?students,? ?namely improved:? ?1)? ?conceptual? ?understanding? ?of? ?fractions,? ?2)? ?procedural? ?fluency? ?with? ?fractions operations,? ?3)? ?mathematical? ?justification,? ?and? ?4)? ?motivation.? ?First,? ?the? ?curriculum? ?will? ?build? ?both conceptual? ?understanding? ?and? ?procedural? ?fluency,? ?providing? ?strong? ?visual? ?models? ?within engaging? ?games? ?that? ?motivate? ?students? ?to? ?practice.? ?The? ?collaborative? ?learning? ?model? ?and? ?inquiry approach?? ??will? ?improve? ?students?? ?mathematical? ?justification.? ?Finally,? ?we? ?encourage? ?these outcomes? ?within? ?a? ?motivational? ?support? ?structure? ?designed? ?to? ?foster? ?engagement? ?and self-efficacy. Improving? ?students?? ?academic? ?outcomes? ?and? ?self-efficacy? ?in? ?the? ?area? ?of? ?fractions? ?during elementary? ?school? ?will? ?promote? ?later? ?success? ?in? ?high? ?school? ?mathematics.? ?Since? ?each? ?additional math? ?class? ?students? ?complete? ?in? ?high? ?school? ?more? ?than? ?doubles? ?the? ?odds? ?of? ?college? ?completion (Adelman,? ?2006),? ?the? ?intervention? ?has? ?the? ?potential? ?to? ?make? ?a? ?real? ?difference? ?in? ?whether students? ?achieve? ?sustainable? ?careers? ?versus? ?being? ?stuck? ?in? ?low-wage? ?jobs.