Newswise — The University of Illinois at Chicago's Learning Sciences Research Institute will serve as a research and development partner in a $10 million math literacy project funded by the U.S. Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences.
As part of the National Center for Cognition and Mathematics Instruction, a team of UIC experts will collaborate on the redesign and testing of a widely used middle school mathematics curriculum called the Connected Mathematics Project.
The UIC research team is led by James Pellegrino and Susan Goldman, co-directors of the Learning Sciences Research Institute at UIC and distinguished professors of liberal arts and sciences, psychology and education.
"We are excited to be part of the very talented center team and to have this opportunity to work on ways to enhance the teaching and learning of mathematics," Pellegrino said. "Given the reach of the Connected Mathematics Project, we are assured that the results of our collaborative work can have a major impact on the mathematics achievement of America's middle school students."
Aiming to improve learning outcomes for students in grades six to eight, the researchers will apply principles of cognitive theory and research to redesign the math curricula. Results produced from a series of interrelated studies, particularly as they involve concepts required for algebra and advanced mathematics, will be translated into improvements in future editions of Connected Mathematics Project curriculum materials.
Other UIC researchers include Janet Beissinger, research associate professor of learning sciences and math, statistics and computer science; Mara Martinez, assistant professor of math, statistics and computer science; and Alison Castro Superfine, assistant professor of learning sciences and math, statistics and computer science.
WestEd, a national nonprofit research agency, is the lead organization for the five-year project, which is a partnership between UIC, Carnegie Mellon University, Temple University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Pearson, and Apple Computer, Inc.
To learn more about the UIC Learning Sciences Research Institute, visit www.lsri.uic.edu
UIC ranks among the nation's leading research universities and is Chicago's largest university with 26,000 students, 12,000 faculty and staff, 15 colleges and the state's major public medical center. A hallmark of the campus is the Great Cities Commitment, through which UIC faculty, students and staff engage with community, corporate, foundation and government partners in hundreds of programs to improve the quality of life in metropolitan areas around the world.
For more information about UIC, please visit www.uic.edu
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