| NSF Org: |
DRL Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | July 15, 2015 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | July 21, 2017 |
| Award Number: | 1503451 |
| Award Instrument: | Continuing Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Ferdinand Rivera
DRL Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | September 1, 2015 |
| End Date: | August 31, 2020 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $450,000.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $502,141.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
FY 2017 = $164,800.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
2550 NORTHWESTERN AVE # 1100 WEST LAFAYETTE IN US 47906-1332 (765)494-1055 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
155 S Grant Street West Lafayette IN US 47907-2114 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): | Discovery Research K-12 |
| Primary Program Source: |
04001718DB NSF Education & Human Resource |
| Program Reference Code(s): | |
| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
The Discovery Research K-12 program (DRK-12) seeks to significantly enhance the learning and teaching of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) by preK-12 students and teachers, through research and development of innovative resources, models and tools. Projects in the DRK-12 program build on fundamental research in STEM education and prior research and development efforts that provide theoretical and empirical justification for proposed projects.
The 3-year exploratory project, Conceptual Model-based Problem Solving: A Response to Intervention Program for Students with Learning Difficulties in Mathematics, will develop a cross-platform mathematics tutoring program that addresses the problem-solving skill difficulties of second- and third-grade students with learning disabilities in mathematics (LDM). While mathematics problem-solving skills are critical in all areas of daily life, many students with LDM do not acquire key math concepts such as additive and multiplicative reasoning in a proficient manner during the early school years. In fact, about 5-10% of school-age children are identified as having mathematical disabilities which might cause them to experience considerable difficulties in the upper grades and experience persistent academic, life, and work challenges. Despite the proliferation of web-based mathematical games for early learners, there are very few programs or tools that target growth in the conceptual understanding of fundamental mathematical ideas, which is essential in enabling young students with LDM to perform proficiently in mathematical and everyday contexts. COMPS-A is a computer-generated instructional program focusing on additive word problem solving; it will provide tutoring specifically tailored to each individual student's learning profile in real time. COMPS-A will also make the reasoning and underlying mathematical model more explicit to them, and the tool's flexibility will facilitate group or one-on-one instruction in regular classroom settings, in other sessions during or after the school day, and at home. COMPS-A addresses a significant practical issue in today's classrooms by providing individualized and effective RtI intervention programs for students with LDM.
COMPS-A program represents a mathematical model-based problem-solving approach that emphasizes understanding and representation of mathematical relations in algebraic equations and, thus, will support growth in generalized problem-solving skills.COMPS-A will achieve the following objectives: 1) Create the curriculum content, screen design, and a teacher's manual for all four modules in the area of additive word problem solving; 2) Design and develop the cross-platform computer application that can be ported as a web-based, iPad, Android, or Windows app, and this flexibility will make the program accessible to all students; and 3) Conduct small-scale single subject design and randomized controlled trial studies to evaluate the potential of COMPS-A to enhance students' word problem-solving performance. The following research questions will be resolved: (1) What is the functional relationship between the COMPS-A program and students' performance in additive mathematics problem solving? (2) What is the teacher's role in identifying students' misconceptions, alternative reasoning, and knowledge gaps when students are not responsive to the intervention program? (3) What are the necessary instructional scaffolds that will address students' knowledge gaps and therefore facilitate the connection between students' conceptual schemes and the mathematical models necessary for problem solving in order to promote meaningful understanding and construction of additive reasoning? A functional prototype of the COMPS-A will be developed followed by a single-subject design study with a small group of students with LDM to field-test the initial program. Finally, a pretest-posttest, comparison group design with random assignment of participants to groups will then be used to examine the effects of the two intervention conditions: COMPS-A and business as usual. An extensive dissemination plan will enable the project team to share results to a wider community that is responsible for educating all students and, especially, students with LDM.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
The purpose of the Conceptual Model-based Problem Solving (COMPS): A Response to Intervention Program for Students with LDM is to develop a web based computerized mathematical problem-solving tutoring program that addresses the needs of second- and third-grade students with learning disabilities or difficulties in mathematics (LDM) in addition and subtraction word problem solving.
Accordingly, the project’s cross-disciplinary team has developed a functional prototype of a web-based intervention tutor, COMPS-A (additive). The COMPS-A program utilizes a mathematical model-based problem-solving approach that emphasizes understanding and representation of mathematical relations in algebraic equations and, thus, will support growth in generalized problem-solving skills.
The project team has conducted a series of studies to test the effectiveness and possible impact of the COMPS-A program (e.g., Xin et al., 2020a; 2020b). Students who used the COMPS-A program showed significant improvement in mathematics problem-solving performance. For instance, in a randomized control trial study, COMPS-A was compared to a typical, “business-as-usual” condition. Findings of this study indicate that students in the COMPS-A condition improved their mathematical problem-solving performance on a researcher-developed criterion measure with an effect size of 1.08 favoring the COMPS-A condition (Xin et al., 2020). In addition, about 60% students, after working with the COMPS-A computer program, showed enhanced problem-solving performance on a commercially published standardized test. The findings from these studies indicate that elementary students with LDM are able to think mathematically, engaging in model-based problem solving, rather than relying on “keyword”-based or story-based problem-solving strategies that may not involve mathematical reasoning and thinking. This project is expected to have far reaching impact in the field of special education and beyond as the COMPS program advances students’ reasoning and problem solving above and beyond the concrete level of operation to the abstract level of thinking and generalized problem solving.
As part of the Conceptual Model-based Mathematics Intervention Tutoring (COMMIT) program (https://laurencelei36.wixsite.com/comps-rti-purdue), the COMPS-A, coupled with the product of our previous NSF-funded project, PGBM-COMPS (a tutoring program for multiplication and division word problem solving), will address the needs of today’s inclusive classrooms by providing tools that adapt to each individual student's needs. The COMPS-A computer program can be used with an entire class during the day and with individual students (at school, at home). We thus anticipate this project to impact mathematics education practice for students who are struggling in mathematics, by reducing the gap between students with LDM and their normal-achieving peers.
The cross-disciplinary nature of this project allowed research team members from the disciplines of special education, mathematics education, and computer science to develop new perspectives and apply them to the construction of computer technology for improving mathematics education and education in general. The research team in this project explored a novel visualization method to analyze and present student problem-solving data. With the visualization method, a student’s problem-solving process data (e.g., eye movement when interacting with the computer tutor, time for task completion, accuracy of responses) is presented graphically. This representation provides teachers with a holistic view of a student’s problem-solving process as well as a view of strategies used during the process. Consequently, the teacher will be able to use evidence from student problem solving to adapt interventions to student needs thereby enhance program effectiveness.
Xin, Y. P., Kim, S. J., Lei, Q., Wei, S., Liu, B., Wang, W., Kastberg, S., Chen, Y., Yang, X., Ma, X., Richardson, S. E. (2020a). The Impact of a Conceptual Model-based Intervention Program on math problem-solving performance of at-risk English learners. Reading and Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 36(2), 104-123, published online April1st, 2020. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10573569.2019.1702909
Xin, Y. P., Kim; S., Liu, B., Lei, Q., Wei, S., Wang, W., Kastberg, S., Chen, Y., Richardson, S. E. (2020b). The effect of a web-based computer tutor on improving math problem solving of students with learning difficulties. Paper presented at 2020 AERA Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA.
Last Modified: 12/26/2020
Modified by: Yan Ping Xin
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