Tag Archives: math

  President Obama is announcing our National STEM Video Game Challenge today at 3:15pm EST. Tune in to the LIVE Webcast. Inspired by the “Educate to Innovate” campaign, President Obama’s initiative to promote a renewed focus on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) education, the National STEM Video Game Challenge aims to motivate interest in STEM learning among America’s youth by tapping into students’ natural passions for playing and making video games. The first annual competition is being held by…

Ming Ming Chiu of the University of Buffalo observed informal conversations between parents and children in his recent study, Inequality, family, school, and mathematics achievement: Country and student differences (Social Forces journal). After examining familial patterns in more than 100,000 students, Chiu showed that communications around current affairs, such as the recent BP oil spill, can help boost math achievement. Through discussion, children develop “mental models of mathematical quantities and processes” which support formal instruction in the classroom, resulting in…