CAMPUS

$2.5 million MU grant designed to help make math relatable

Roger McKinney
Columbia Daily Tribune

A four-year grant project to the University of Missouri is meant in part to help algebra teachers answer their students when they ask when they'll ever use it.

The grant funding is $2.5 million from the National Science Foundation, with Zandra de Araujo, associate professor in the MU College of Education, leading the project. Others working on the project with her are MU associate professor Samuel Otten and Amber Candela at the University of Missouri-St. Louis.

The project will work with up to 60 teachers inside and outside of Missouri who teach algebra to eighth-, ninth- and 10th-graders. Algebra is the basis of all the advanced math courses, so it's important for students to grasp it, de Araujo said.

The project will start with classroom observations, she said.

"We're just getting some baseline data," de Araujo said. "We want an understanding of current practices."

Zandra de Araujo

The project will assist teachers in incrementally building on what's successful, said de Araujo, who began her career as a high school algebra teacher in Orlando, Florida.

Many students have a hard time with algebra, she said. It needs to be something students can apply to their lives now, if not also important to future careers.

"When you understand the why behind something, it's more interesting," de Araujo said about what is key to keeping students engaged.

A pilot training program will be developed and tweaked to create learning gains on a larger scale.

Ultimately the project will develop online materials for teachers across the country.

Math can be creative with the right strategies from teachers, de Araujo said.

rmckinney@columbiatribune.com

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