Building a classroom game economy to improve mathematical reasoning and prepare K-5 students for success in STEM learning

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, andamp; Walter, E, 2000; Kokkelenberg andamp; 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 andamp; Rose, 2010; Kokkelenberg andamp; 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.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.