SBIR-STTR Award

There? ?is? ?an? ?enormous? ?need? ?for? ?qualified? ?people? ?to? ?pursue? ?careers? ?in? ?STEM? ?(Noonan, 2017).? ?However, ? ?the? ?lack? ?of? ?a? ?strong? ?foundation? ?in? ?mathematics? ?means? ?students? ?are? ?less? ?likely to? ?pursue? ?STEM? ?majors? ?and? ?careers? ?(Chen, ?2013;? ?Griffith, ? 2010;? ?Huang, ? ?Taddese, ??&? ?Walter, ?E, 2000;? ?Kokkelenberg? ?&? ?Sinha, ?2010;? ?Lowell? ?et.? ?al., ?2009).? ?Students? ?from? ?low-income? ?families, women, ??and? ?underrepresented? ?minorities? ?are? ?also? ?less? ?likely? ?to? ?major? ?in? ?STEM? ?(Bettinger, ??2010; Griffith, ?2010;? ?Hill, ??Corbett? ?&? ?Rose, ? ?2010;? ?Kokkelenberg? ?&? ?Sinha, ??2010).? ?Improving? ?math learning? ?in? ?the? ?elementary? ?grades? ?is? ?important? ?to? ?ensure? ?children? ?have? ?the? ?essential foundational? ?skills? ?and? ?strong? ?self-efficacy? ?beliefs? ?to? ?be? ?able? ?to? ?succeed? ?with? ?later? ?mathematics and? ?pursue? ?careers? ?in? ?STEM.? ?With? ?this? ?Fast-Track? ?grant, ? ??Class? ?Store? ??(?CS?)?, ? ?we? ?propose? ?to transform? ?the? ?way? ?in? ?which? ?students? ?learn? ??Number? ?and? ?Operations? ?in? ?Base? ?Ten.?? ??CS? ??will? ?be? ??an engaging, ? ?commercially? ?available, ? ?classroom-based? ?economy? ?game? ?for? ?tablets? ?and Chromebooks? ?that? ?focuses? ?on? ?multi-digit? ?operations.? C?? S?? ?will?? ?encourage? ?conceptual understanding? ?and? ?build? ?math? ?self-efficacy? ?for? ?students? ?in? ?grades? ?K-5? ?within? ?the? ?context? ?of? ?a digital, ? ?classroom-based? ?marketplace.? ?Within? ?the? ?game, ? ?students? ?will? ?create? ?stores, ? ?craft? ?objects to? ?sell, ? ?engage? ?in? ?selling/purchasing? ?transactions, ? ?and? ?work? ?together? ?to? ?increase? ?the? ?value? ?of? ?the economy.? ?In? ?addition, ? ?the? ?game? ?will? ?utilize? ??artificial? ?intelligence? ?(AI)? ?to? ?detect? ?strategies? ?students use? ?and? ?help? ?teachers? ?facilitate? ?rich? ?mathematical? ?discussions? ?thereby? ?enhancing? ?students’ reasoning? ?skills. Outcomes.? ??The? ?proposal? ?will? ?encourage? ?three? ?main? ?outcomes, ? ?namely:? ?1)? ?algorithms? ?for detecting? ?math? ?strategies? ?students? ?use, ? ?2)? ?a? ?discussion? ?support? ?dashboard, ? ?and? ?3)? ?algorithms for? ?predicting? ?at-risk? ?status.? ?A? ?key? ?research? ?aim? ?is? ?to? ?determine? ?whether? ?the? ?software? ?can? ?predict math? ?strategies? ?students? ?use? ?and? ?detect? ?which? ?students? ?are? ?at-risk? ?academically? ?as? ?compared to? ?standardized? ?assessment? ?data, ? ?which? ?will? ?help? ?teachers? ?intervene? ?appropriately.? ?The discussion? ?support? ?dashboard? ?will? ?help? ?to? ?promote? ?rich? ?mathematical? ?discussion, ? ?thereby improving? ?students’? ?mathematical? ?justification? ?and? ?conceptual? ?understanding.? ?The? ?engaging game? ?will? ?bolster? ?students’? ?motivation? ?and? ?self-efficacy? ?in? ?mathematics. Improving? ?students’? ?academic? ?outcomes? ?and? ?self-efficacy? ?in? ?base? ?ten? ?during? ?elementary school? ?will? ?promote? ?later? ?success? ?in? ?high? ?school? ?mathematics.? ?Since? ?the? ?number? ?of? ?advanced math? ?classes? ?students? ?take? ?is? ?correlated? ?with? ?likelihood? ?to? ?complete? ?a? ?STEM? ?degree, ? ?(Chen, 2013)? ?a? ?distal? ?outcome? ?of? ?this? ?proposal? ?is? ?increasing? ?students? ?pursuing? ?careers? ?in? ?STEM.

Public Health Relevance Statement:
Project? ?Narrative There? ?is? ?an? ?enormous? ?need? ?for? ?students? ?majoring? ?in? ?the? ?fields? ?of? ?Science, ? ?Technology, Engineering? ?and? ?Mathematics? ?(STEM), ? ?yet? ?lacking? ?a? ?strong? ?foundation? ?in? ?mathematics? ?makes students, ? ?especially? ?women, ? ?minorities? ?and? ?those? ?from? ?low-income? ?backgrounds, ? ?less? ?likely? ?to pursue? ?careers? ?in? ?STEM.? ??Class? ?Store?? ?will? ?bolster? ?students’? ?mathematics? ?abilities, ? ?including mathematical? ?reasoning? ?and? ?self-efficacy, ? ?in? ?the? ?foundational? ?area? ?of? N?? umber? ?and? ?Operations? ?in Base? ?10?? ?in? ?the? ?short? ?and? ?long? ?term.? ?This? ?will, ? ?in? ?turn, ? ?lead? ?to? ?several? ?positive? ?distal? ?outcomes, such? ?as? ?increased? ?STEM? ?majors? ?and? ?careers.

Project Terms:
Achievement; Algorithms; Area; Artificial Intelligence; base; Belief; career; Child; Childhood Cancer Survivor Study; Code; Computer software; dashboard; Data; Data Files; design; Detection; Digit structure; digital; Distal; elementary school; Elements; Ensure; experience; field study; fifth grade; Foundational Skills; Foundations; fourth grade; Goals; Grant; high school; High School Student; improved; Intervention; Investments; iterative design; Lead; Learning; Low income; lower income families; Marketing; mathematical ability; mathematical learning; mathematical theory; Mathematics; Measures; Minority; Modeling; operation; Outcome; Performance; Phase; prediction algorithm; Process; Protocols documentation; prototype; Research; Risk; Sales; Scheme; Schools; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics; second grade; Self Efficacy; skills; Standardization; Structure; student participation; Students; success; support tools; Tablets; teacher; Testing; Transact; Underrepresented Minority; usability; Woman; Work

There is an enormous need for qualified people to pursue careers in STEM (Noonan, 2017). However, the lack of a strong foundation in mathematics means students are less likely to pursue STEM majors and careers (Chen, 2013; Griffith, 2010; Huang, Taddese, & Walter, E, 2000; Kokkelenberg & Sinha, 2010; Lowell et. al., 2009). Students from low-income families, women, and underrepresented minorities are also less likely to major in STEM (Bettinger, 2010; Griffith, 2010; Hill, Corbett & Rose, 2010; Kokkelenberg & Sinha, 2010). Improving math learning in the elementary grades is important to ensure children have the essential foundational skills and strong self-efficacy beliefs to be able to succeed with later mathematics and pursue careers in STEM. With this Fast-Track grant, Class Store ( CS ) , we propose to transform the way in which students learn Number and Operations in Base Ten. CS will be an engaging, commercially available, classroom-based economy game for tablets and Chromebooks that focuses on multi-digit operations. CS will encourage conceptual understanding and build math self-efficacy for students in grades K-5 within the context of a digital, classroom-based marketplace. Within the game, students will create stores, craft objects to sell, engage in selling/purchasing transactions, and work together to increase the value of the economy. In addition, the game will utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to detect strategies students use and help teachers facilitate rich mathematical discussions thereby enhancing students' reasoning skills. Outcomes. The proposal will encourage three main outcomes, namely: 1) algorithms for detecting math strategies students use, 2) a discussion support dashboard, and 3) algorithms for predicting at-risk status. A key research aim is to determine whether the software can predict math strategies students use and detect which students are at-risk academically as compared to standardized assessment data, which will help teachers intervene appropriately. The discussion support dashboard will help to promote rich mathematical discussion, thereby improving students' mathematical justification and conceptual understanding. The engaging game will bolster students' motivation and self-efficacy in mathematics. Improving students' academic outcomes and self-efficacy in base ten during elementary school will promote later success in high school mathematics. Since the number of advanced math classes students take is correlated with likelihood to complete a STEM degree, (Chen, 2013) a distal outcome of this proposal is increasing students pursuing careers in STEM.

Public Health Relevance Statement:
There is an enormous need for students majoring in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), yet lacking a strong foundation in mathematics makes students, especially women, minorities and those from low-income backgrounds, less likely to pursue careers in STEM. Class Store will bolster students' mathematics abilities, including mathematical reasoning and self-efficacy, in the foundational area of Number and Operations in Base 10 in the short and long term. This will, in turn, lead to several positive distal outcomes, such as increased STEM majors and careers. Terms: <0-11 years old; 2nd grade; 4th grade; 5th grade; Achievement; Achievement Attainment; Algorithms; Area; Artificial Intelligence; Belief; Child; Child Youth; Children (0-21); Code; Coding System; Computer Reasoning; Computer software; Data; Data Files; Detection; Digit; Digit structure; Distal; Elements; Ensure; Foundational Skills; Foundations; Goals; Grant; High School Student; Intervention; Intervention Strategies; Investments; Lead; Learning; Low income; Machine Intelligence; Marketing; Math; Mathematical Logic; Mathematical Reasoning; Mathematics; Measures; Minority; Modeling; Outcome; Pb element; Performance; Phase; Process; Protocol; Protocols documentation; Research; Risk; STEM class; STEM course; STEM discipline; STEM field; STEM major; Sales; Scheme; Schools; Science, Technology, Engineering and Math; Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics; Secondary School Student; Secondary Student; Self Efficacy; Software; Standardization; Structure; Students; Tablets; Testing; Transact; Underrepresented Ethnic Minority; Underrepresented Minority; Woman; Work; base; career; children; childrens'; dashboard; design; designing; digital; elementary school; experience; field based data; field learning; field study; field test; fifth grade; fourth grade; grade school; heavy metal Pb; heavy metal lead; high school; improved; interventional strategy; iterative design; lower income families; math ability; math achievement; math competence; math competency; math learning; math proficiency; math theory; mathematic ability; mathematic achievement; mathematic compentence; mathematic compentency; mathematic proficiency; mathematic theory; mathematical ability; mathematical achievement; mathematical compentence; mathematical compentency; mathematical learning; mathematical proficiency; mathematical theory; mathematics learning; mathematics logic; mathematics reasoning; mathematics theory; number sense; numeracy; operation; prediction algorithm; predictive algorithm; predictor algorithm; proficient in math; prototype; quantitative literacy; science, technology, engineering and math class; science, technology, engineering and math course; science, technology, engineering and math discipline; science, technology, engineering and math field; science, technology, engineering and math major; science, technology, engineering and mathematics class; science, technology, engineering and mathematics course; science, technology, engineering and mathematics discipline; science, technology, engineering and mathematics field; science, technology, engineering and mathematics major; second grade; skills; student engagement; student motivation; student participation; success; support tools; teacher; under-representation of minorities; underrepresentation of minorities; usability; youngster