Project Summary
STEM-Prep is a supplementary program designed to help high school students build the math skills that are essential for their success in science classes. According to The Nation’s Report Card (2020), only 34% of eighth graders and 25% of twelfth graders are at or above the level of proficiency in math. Within the English learner population, the percentages are even lower at only 5% and 3% for 8th and 12th graders respectively. Science teachers often find that students show up to high school far behind grade level in math, but the teachers struggle to provide the support these students need.
The interactive multimedia modules created for the STEM-Prep program address this problem by providing teachers with self-paced lessons that can be assigned to students at any time for intervention or enrichment. While the larger vision of this program would involve a wide variety of learning modules covering multiple topics that build and spiral over time, this capstone project represents an initial prototype consisting of a six module sequence teaching students how to complete one-step conversions.
The design priority for these modules was to find a way to teach math skills in an authentic way that would allow students to gain confidence and the level of mastery necessary to apply these math skills in a variety of contexts. A module structure that relies heavily on scenarios was chosen in order to emphasize science context and the real-world utility of math.
Inspired by the 4CID model, design began with a sequence of scenarios representing situations when a real scientist might use a conversion factor in real life. Tasks were created for each scenario and sequenced according to their level of difficulty and complexity, while two sets of part-task practice problems were added to promote the development of skill automaticity. Finally, supportive information such as instructional videos were created to support students in successfully completing the sequence of scenario-based tasks.
Throughout the lessons, students get plenty of practice completing the math skill, but hopefully they are also recognizing patterns in the scenarios that will help them later identify when and why conversions are needed. This knowledge will help them transfer the skill to the huge variety of situations science and life can throw at them. Further prototype development and long-term testing will be needed to determine if this scenario-based lesson template is effective at improving transferability, but initial tests show promising short-term improvement of learning outcomes.
