Designing for Learning: Key Decisions for an Open Online Math Tutor for Elementary Students

• Published in: Digital Experiences in Mathematics Education 2023, Vol.9 (3), p.476-491
• Main Authors: Gattupalli, Sai S., Edwards, Sharon A., Maloy, Robert W., Rancourt, Marguerite
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Coaching (Performance); Computation; Decisions; Education; Educational Technology; Electronic Learning; Elementary School Students; Grade 3; Grade 4; Grade 5; Grade 6; Instructional Design; Learning; Learning and Instruction; Mathematics Education; Mathematics Instruction; Problem solving; Students; Teachers; Thinking Skills; Tutors; Word Problems (Mathematics)
• ISSN: 2199-3246; 2199-3254
• DOI: 10.1007/s40751-023-00128-3

Usable Math available at https://usablemath.org/ is being designed as an open online tutor for elementary school math students and teachers in the USA. It provides interactive problem solving for 3rd through 6th grade students who are learning mathematical reasoning and computation skills through word problems. Using the system, students and teachers access standardized test questions and then receive math learning strategies from four virtual coaches — Estella Explainer, Chef Math Bear, How-to Hound, and Visual Vicuna — who offer words, images, pictures, charts, graphs, animations, and gifs to support students to read, compute, and think strategically and visually as math problem solvers. This paper describes six key decisions influencing the design and development of the system: (1) four coaches, each with a different approach to math problem solving; (2) Google Slides as an online platform for the system; (3) a click-to-see method for students’ and teachers’ control of the system; (4) growth mindset feedback statements after every problem; (5) invitations for students to write their own math problems and problem solving strategies; and (6) ways for teachers to utilize the system for classroom learning.