By Michele McDanel (opens in new tab)
If you’ve ever struggled with math, you can take some comfort in knowing that you’re not alone. Many students have trouble learning math—even those who excel in other subjects. Because concepts that are taught early on are built upon later, it’s important for teachers and parents to identify individual learning needs at a young age so students don’t fall behind. And since math skills are key to functioning in life, regardless of one’s career, it’s critical to find ways to support the learning needs of every student.
What works for each student can vary widely. So as part of a larger effort to build tools to support the range of students who use Microsoft technologies, the Math team is tasked with supporting and creating inclusive, personalized learning for math students (opens in new tab). The team is part of the larger Inclusive Classroom team at Microsoft that develops various products, including the Immersive Reader (opens in new tab).
Everyone learns differently
A wide variety of difficulties (opens in new tab) can be the root causes of math challenges and can arise at different stages of a child’s scholastic development. In addition, completing a math problem is often dependent upon having other skills, such as visual ability or reading comprehension. When a student has a challenge in one skill area, it can confound a teacher’s ability to diagnose the root cause and provide the individual learning that students need to succeed.
No magic tool…but a toolbox
“What we’ve learned is there is no magic pill for math that will work for everyone,” said Mina Spasic, Senior Program Manager. “Based on that, we’re looking to create something more like a toolbox where people can find what they need depending on their particular difficulties.”
This toolbox tries to meet every student at their particular level. For example, there are those who may struggle to understand quantities and certain math calculations; while others might face obstacles in learning and retaining specific concepts. Some students may not be able to input a math equation because they lack typing skills. For them, they would need the ability to hand-write the equation with a stylus. Those who aren’t able to write or type would benefit from the speech-to-text capability. Wherever the student is at in their learning journey, the toolbox has them covered.
Additionally, as the math concepts and curriculum evolve, a student’s challenges with the subject can also change. They may be strong in algebra but show weakness in geometry because of challenges they experience with visual-spatial processing.
Today, students and teachers can find math assistance embedded in products such as Microsoft Word, OneNote, and of course Excel. One of the team’s proudest achievements to date is the Math Assistant (opens in new tab) for OneNote.
Above: The Math Assistant tool being used in OneNote, which reads each step aloud to students
When using this tool, a student can present an equation and have each step read to them. Step by step, the student can work through what’s needed to solve the equation.
Individualized assignments
Teachers typically identify areas of weakness through informal and formal assessments and by working individually with students. Based on their findings, teachers then provide students with opportunities to practice the concepts where they most need help. With the Assignments feature in Teams, teachers can send personalized homework to a subset of students, targeting them with specific pages of worksheets based on where each student needs practice.
“Another thing that OneNote supports is the ability to create and send out practice quizzes. They can click a button, and with the power of AI, a practice quiz can be generated for them so they can practice problems that are like the ones they are currently working on and get feedback right away on what they got right and what needs to be redone,” said user researcher Michelle Wantuch.
A key benefit of working on math problems in OneNote is that students can guide their own learning. By simply pressing a button, more practice problems appear, in areas where they need more work. This type of repetition helps to reinforce what they are learning and help to root out areas of weakness.
Looking toward the future
“There’s a specific reason we call these features ‘inclusive’ as opposed to ‘accessible,’” said Mina. “It’s not just about building features for students with disabilities, it’s making sure everyone gets what they need for learning. It’s what we try to do with everything we’re building.”
The team is evaluating how to use insights to find out how a student is using technology and where they are having problems to guide future tools and product development. A recent study also tested a prototype of a math tool to help students solve even more types of math problems; early feedback from educators was positive.
Tackling the problem of helping students master math may seem like a lofty goal. But the Math team is committed to making that difference—one equation at a time.
Do you use Math Assistant with your students? If so, have students started to solve math problems more independently? Tweet us your thoughts @MicrosoftRI (opens in new tab) or like us on Facebook (opens in new tab) and join the conversation.
Michele McDanel is a builder, an organizer, and a storyteller with a bachelor’s degree in Communications and an MBA. Michele is energized by solving problems and meeting business needs through communications and customer experience solutions that raise the bar. She enjoys building relationships and managing teams. Overall, she likes figuring out what the “special sauce” is that will be the competitive differentiator for a business and its solutions. Michele joined the Customer Insights Research team in 2019 to amplify the great UX research and data science work they do, and to showcase the thought leadership of the team across internal and external communications, events, and social media.