SBIR-STTR Award

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project focuses on the ability to conjoin current research with the latest technology into a multimedia environment that allows early learners to gain the conceptual understanding of number sense that will prepare them for more formal mathematics. Current research has defined four foci which are at the center of this project: realistic problems, models, own productions, and acoustics. Realistic problems are those mathematical situations that actually occur in a child's daily experience and so hold meaning for him or her. Models are any number of representations that allow children to apply their own understanding of mathematics. These may include their own invented and informal strategies, use of the number line or blank number line, or other models such as the bead string, arithmetic rack, etc. Own productions refers to children's constructions of mathematical situations or descriptions of them in their own terms. Acoustics refers to studies of how children learn through sound, rhythm, and movement and how this affects their understanding of numbers as structural representations. According to current research on early learning, all of these have an affect on the way in which children develop their understanding of mathematics. In addition, it is known that this understanding progresses gradually through varying levels of abstraction, such as the following: mathematizing concrete problems through the use of invented or normal strategies, to the use of models, and then to formal or abstract mathematics. This project intends to study the feasibility of creating an active and realistic learning environment in which students are able to build upon the levels of understanding. New advancements in technology, including the use of video (which students can manipulate and 'edit' to portray mathematics), graphics (to use as constructed models or representations of mathematical situations), sound (for vocal descriptions or as r einforcement of acoustic implications in learning), and text tools can all amplify the learning potential of primary grade students as defined through the research. A major objective is to exploit these technologies to their fullest advantage while maintaining an interface that is friendly to the primary student.A K-2 Math program which incorporates highly visual and realistic video and sound with intriguing mathematics problems is needed in the school market. A program that goes beyond drill and practice and integrates new research on learning, especially those aspects identified above, could make a great impact on mathematics instruction and the development of number sense in the primary years. Also, the proposed product could conceivably cross over to the Home Market.

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II Project from Learning in Motion, Inc. proposes to combine cognitive research, mathematics theory, and technology in a CD-ROM for primary mathematics. Students early success in mathematics depends upon a solid concept of number. To that end, 'Telling Mathematical Stories' proposes to synthesize four important elements: 1) students' intuitive sense of number and multiple perspectives on number, i.e., transference of conceptual development from number (counting) to weight and volume; 2) sound used to transition from acoustic counting to estimating number; 3) multiple tools to encourage students' own strategies and a move toward formal mathematizing; and 4) experimentation with three-dimensional figures. Four- cycles of developmental research are planned to test the uses of technology in ways not currently seen. These include the design, programming, and field testing of: 1) contexts and mathematical objects, 3-D, and sound; 2) models and their visual representation and interface, and 3) 'look ,and feel', character hosts, and features of the 'worlds' that will encourage own productions. The fourth cycle is a field test of the integrated program. The commercial potential for a K-2 Math program that combines research on cognition and mathematics with new technology is very high. Currently, most products are drill and practice and relegated to counting and calculating with symbols. The proposed product builds students' intuitive sense of number. It offers multiple model tools, incentives for own productions and communicating mathematics, and new uses of sound and 3-D animation.