Teachers’ Experiences With MathSpring: A Personalized Technology That Responds to Student Affect During Math Problem-Solving

• In Event: Affect and Motivation in Mathematics Education

Abstract

Middle school is a critical time for math achievement, but students demonstrate low engagement with math. MathSpring, a personalized technology that responds to students’ affect while students solve problems, could address the need to improve math achievement and engagement. A randomized control trial was conducted during the 2022-2023 school year; teachers were assigned to use MathSpring (treatment group) or continue business-as-usual math instruction (control group). We present results from a qualitative analysis of teacher interviews (N = 9) and classroom observations (N = 7) for teachers in the treatment group. The results indicated that using MathSpring helped teachers better understand their students’ effort and emotions when solving problems, which could have transformative effects on students’ engagement and achievement in math.

Authors

• Natalie Brezack, WestEd

• Shuangting Yang, WestEd

• Kelly Collins, WestEd

• Mingyu Feng, WestEd