Recently, First In Math was featured in the magazine US News & World Report. The story, reported by Allie Bidwell, focused on how educators are taking advantage of digital advances to supplement their teaching, and the positive results these methods are having for a variety of students.
Umana eighth-grade math teacher Ellen Latham meets First In Math creator Robert Sun.
Not surprisingly, games in the classroom are an important resource for educators who are, according to Bidwell, benefiting from the access to extensive data about student’s performance that these programs provide in real time.
An equally important feature of the game experience is the opportunity to create positive competition among students, classrooms and districts. One of the schools highlighted in the story, Mario Umana Academy in Boston, supplements their math education curriculum with First In Math program.
Umana’s principal, Alexandra Montes McNeil, suggests that while competition can be viewed as a positive or negative, “…right now it seems to be in this building a rallying cry for the school and an issue of school pride, where they can say that as a school we are working very hard to be number one in the state.”
For each of the three years they have used the program, Umana students have ranked among the Top Ten FIM schools nationally, and the competitive features of FIM are recognized as a motivator in supporting them to achieve their math goals.
Another reason for the student’s success is the effective coaching they receive from Ellen Latham, an eighth grade math teacher who was instrumental in bringing FIM to Umana and other schools in the Boston area. She believes that FIM helps students break through many of the barriers they encounter in the traditional curriculum by rewarding them for solving problems with speed and accuracy.
“I have always felt that kids’ basic skills are slowing them down,” explains Latham. “They’re spending too much time trying to remember what nine times six is, but their time should be spent on more complex math.” Latham often assigns FIM as a homework assignment so that students can build on their basic math skills at home and then move on to more advanced math in the classroom
Both Principal Montes McNeil and teacher Latham are pleased to share that the math scores for Umana on state tests have risen substantially, by about 20 to 22 composite performance index (CPI) points. They both agree that the continued growth from year to year indicates that FIM is not a one-time deal, but rather, an ongoing, effective program.
Students in the special education program and English language learners also reap unexpected benefits, according to Montes McNeil. “Some of our students do have such academic needs that they are not performing, and will not perform, at grade level, but yet they feel a lot of success because they can be a part of this school-wide initiative.”
First In Math creator, Robert Sun, is not surprised. "When presented in a way students relate to, mathematics can be powerful, engaging and fascinating," says Sun. "Unlike written language, we are saved the years needed to learn an extensive vocabulary. The essence of math is patterns—and using patterns to describe relationships. What's important in mathematics is not what a number means but how it can connect with other numbers. Get good at math and you will have the skills to understand how our universe works."
Click here to read the full story, How Virtual Games Can Help Struggling Students Learn as reported in US News & World Report.