Case studies
- Environmental responsibility
|
 |
|
Redefining education through TI technology
Since the invention of the handheld electronic calculator more than 40 years ago, TI has been in the business of developing innovative technology and resources to help teachers teach and students learn. Education is important to TI because technically skilled people are needed to help solve tomorrow’s challenges, build strong workforces, and help global communities prosper and innovate.
"We focus work and investment toward helping more students to be successful in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) academics,” said Melendy Lovett, TI Education Technology president. “We listen to educators and leverage research to develop tools that help them and their students succeed.”
Today, two of TI’s educational offerings are impacting the future of math and science education by making classroom experiences more interactive and engaging. The TI-Nspire™ Navigator™ system and TI-Math Forward™ systemic program are changing the way teachers structure their classrooms and increasing student success as a result.
Inspiring students and teachers
The TI-Nspire Navigator wireless classroom learning system engages students, encourages classroom participation, and increases achievement. This system wirelessly connects students’ graphing calculators to each other and to their teacher’s computer, making it possible to have shared learning experiences.
Each student has his or her own TI-Nspire handheld graphing calculator and uses it to take notes, quizzes and complete homework assignments. One of the unit’s key features is its ability to dynamically display math exercises and allow students to manipulate the data on their handheld screen to see what impact these changes have in real time.
“My students enjoy using the TI-Nspire touchpad handhelds to manipulate math equations, which gives them a deeper understanding of the concepts and helps them learn faster and retain more,” said Sean Bird, a math teacher at Covenant Christian High School in Avon, Ind.
Collaboration encouraged
In an interactive math classroom using the TI-Nspire system, students are also encouraged to collaborate with one another to solve problems and build knowledge.
Using the TI-Nspire Navigator system along with an interactive whiteboard, wireless slate, document camera and wireless microphone, Audrey Cucci, a math teacher at Frankfort-Schuyler Central High School in Frankfort, N.Y., transformed her classroom into an interactive environment.
“The interactive classroom might look a little different than your typical classroom, with technologies that engage and excite students,” Cucci said. “On any given day, if you were to walk into my class, you would see my students moving about in different stations, or up at the [whiteboard], or acting as a live presenter with the TI-Nspire Navigator.”
Cucci said she tries to create an environment similar to what her students will experience in a college setting, with group work and problem solving being a big part of that experience.
Improving student performance
A four-year, $3 million study funded by the Institute of Education Sciences and the U.S. Department of Education found that Algebra I students whose teachers used TI-Navigator™ networked classroom technology achieved higher math test scores and were more confident in their math abilities.
Researchers gathered data on 127 Algebra I teachers and 1,128 students from 28 states. Students whose teachers used the TI-Navigator system scored 14 percentage points higher on a custom Algebra I test on average, compared with students whose teachers did not use the system.
Cucci said the number of students who are passing her math classes using the TI-Nspire Navigator system has increased by nearly 20 percent.
“What was more important to me were the comments from my students — it’s not often that a kid walks into a math classroom and says, ‘This is cool,’ ” she said.
Increasing proficiency with TI-Math Forward
The TI-Math Forward program is another approach to make classroom experiences more interactive and engaging to accelerate the learning of mathematics. This systemic program inspires students and teachers and builds confidence through eight separate components that combine instruction, professional development, curriculum integration and classroom technology.
In the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district (CMS) in North Carolina, the annual increase in the number of students performing at grade level in mathematics in 2007-2008 was a low 3 percent.
In an effort to improve algebra readiness and mathematics performance in middle grades, the CMS district implemented the TI-Math Forward program in the 2008-2009 school year. The district selected six Title 1 middle schools to implement the program, which impacted 23 teachers and nearly 500 eighth-grade students.
During the first year of program implementation, these CMS teachers participated in professional development sessions and received in-classroom support from a TI-Math Forward implementation specialist. Throughout the year, the teachers used the TI-Navigator classroom learning system with TI-84 Plus graphing calculators for assessments and activities that foster student discussion.
Achieving significant gains
The overall gains in mathematics made by CMS students participating in the TI-Math Forward program during the first year were significant. District averages for Title 1 students showed improvement from 63 percent of students demonstrating proficiency as seventh-grade students to nearly 80 percent of those same students reaching proficient levels as eighth-graders.
Student performance resulted in “high growth” for the district, which is a top achievement level set by states and the Federal Department of Education.
“Our results from the first year were amazing,” said Cindy Moss, Ph.D, CMS director of STEM. “Of the six schools that participated, four of the six made high growth and the other two made growth — and these are six schools that would traditionally pull our school district down.”
Findings at Charlotte-Mecklenburg are consistent with prior studies of TI-Math Forward nationwide, which show an increase in mathematics achievement for all participating students.
In the 2009-2010 school year, CMS has expanded the program to seventh-grade classrooms in the same six schools and added seventh- and eighth-grade classrooms at four additional Title 1 schools throughout the district.
In addition, the district is planning to implement the TI-Math Forward program in high school classrooms.
|
|
Citizenship Report Summary
See also
|
Cart |
