SBIR Phase II: Sketchpad for Young Learners of Mathematics - Dynamic Visualization Software in Grades 3-8

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project aims to overcome barriers to the effective use of The Geometer's Sketchpad software in elementary and middle school math classes, and to deliver on the software's potential for transforming education at these levels. This research-based educational technology tool and its "Dynamic Geometry" interaction paradigm are well known at the secondary and higher level for their ability to foster visualization and exploration in mathematics and to enhance student learning. This project responds to clear calls for the software's application and adaptation to younger grades coming from teachers, from curriculum development and research communities, and from standards bodies such as the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). The proposed research, led by the team that created and maintains Sketchpad, first identifies and prototypes modifications to the software to add scope and age-relevant functionality and to remove barriers to access for young learners; and second pioneers new classroom activities-structures, materials, and vehicles-for supporting and extending standards-based curricula in grades 3-8 through the agency of Dynamic Geometry technology. The intellectual merit of the proposed activity reflects (a) the degree to which the activity responds to perceived pedagogic need (as cited, e. g., in the NCTM Principles and Standards 2000) for Dynamic Geometry technology at the elementary and middle school level; (b) the opportunity to extend the broad base and literature of research that exists on Dynamic Geometry at the secondary level to significantly earlier grade levels (particularly with respect to effective Dynamic Geometry activity design and Dynamic Geometry impact on student affect and cognition in the early grades); and (c) the resources this proposal brings to the question of how best to integrate effective, standards-based curriculum (in this case, the Connected Mathematics Project, Everyday Mathematics, and Math Workshop curricular programs) with effective, standards-based technology. The project brings together research experience in both curricular and software design; project staff includes Sketchpad's authors and project consultants include the author teams of each of the named curricula. The broader impact of this project reaching its objectives will be the creation and availability, in primary and middle grades, of age-appropriate Dynamic Geometry mathematics education technologies and supporting curriculum similar to those which define Sketchpad at the secondary level, where the software is considered the "most valuable software for students" (Becker, 1999) by mathematics teachers across the country; and of research-driven solutions to the challenge of supporting standards-based curricula effectively with educational technology.