Purpose: The research team will fully develop and test a supplemental resource for mathematics teachers and students in elementary school classrooms. U.S. students continue to struggle in mathematics. Part of why U.S. students lag behind in international comparisons may relate to the continued emphasis on procedural learning and repeated practice in mathematics curricula, rather than deeper, more complex mathematical thinking. Project Activities: During Phase I in 2020, the team developed a prototype of a transmedia kit for grade 2 mathematics classrooms, consisting of videos, games, creation tools, character cards, and comic books to engage and support students in learning strategies to understand abstract mathematical topics, such as on misconceptions related to place value and multi-digit operations. At the end of Phase I, researchers completed a pilot study with two teachers and sixteen students, which demonstrated that the prototype kits operated as intended, that educators were able to use the kit activities in practice, and that students were engaged in math learning when using the activities. In Phase II, the team will develop transmedia kits for additional elementary school grades, create bilingual versions for Spanish-speaking students, a digital story creator tool for students to add backgrounds, speech bubbles, and audio to create mini-stories to share with the teacher and classmates, and fully develop the educator training and a home-school connections website with family-friendly resources. After development is complete, the research team will conduct a pilot study to assess the feasibility and usability, fidelity of implementation, and promise of the intervention to support student math learning. The study will include 20 grade 2 and 3 classrooms with approximately 25 students per class and 500 students total. Classrooms will be randomly assigned to use the intervention or continue with business-as-usual procedures. Researchers will compare pre-and-post scores of student math learning, using the Mathematics Knowledge for Teaching Assessment to assess student knowledge of practice standards and misconceptions. The team will gather cost information using the "ingredients method" and will include all expenditures on things such as personnel, facilities, equipment, materials, and training. Product: Teachley Math Practice Kits will be a supplemental resource for elementary school educators to integrate into existing practices to engage students and deepen math learning through characters and narrative-based stories. The transmedia kits will combine video episodes, games, creation tools, character cards, integrated lessons, and comic books to deepen students' understanding and correct common misconceptions of key math domains. The intervention will include web-based teacher professional development resources to support the alignment of learning goals and to support implementation and a family-friendly website for home use.
