Education, MCICS Professors Receive Institute of Diversity Sciences Seed Grant

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Two College of Education faculty—Ivon Arroyo, associate professor of mathematics, science and learning technologies, and Marialuisa Di Stefano, assistant professor of language, literacy, and culture—have received a seed grant from the UMass Amherst Institute of Diversity Sciences for a collaborative project with Beverly Woolf, research professor in the Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences.

The project, “Multi-Racial Bilingual Personalized Digital Tutors for Mathematics Learning,” focuses on supporting Latinx students in grades 5-8 who are learning STEM topics. The team will make modifications to MathSpring, an existing federally funded, online learning technology built with

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National Science Foundation (NSF) support, to foster learning in math classes and after school programs. Two of the planned updates include (1) adapting the language of instruction (Spanish or English) based on student needs, and (2) expanding the number of racially and ethnically diverse avatars available to students.

Arroyo, Di Stefano and Woolf will investigate, among other topics, the degree to which students experience increased subject matter learning in mathematics, as well as language acquisition. They will also examine whether or not the diverse avatars have any effect on student’s self-perception as competent mathematics learners.

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