Nova Southeastern UniversityCreated Date: 2/19/2015 5:18:54 PM

While students in Canada perform well on international comparisons in mathematics and science overall, recent data reveals a gradual decline in student performance with respect to these subject areas. According to the Programme for International Student Assessment (OECD PISA, 2012), which compared students across 65 countries in mathematics and science, scores decreased in most of Canada’s provinces over the last nine years and declined in science over the last six years (Brochu, Deussing, Houme, & Chuy, 2012; CMEC, 2012). Similarly, results from the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), which compared the performance of students in grades four and eight in mathematics and science from 74 educational jurisdictions, revealed a decline in several Canadian provinces over the last decade with respect to these subject areas (TIMSS, 2012). While

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Preparing Canada’s Youthfor the Future through STEM Education ...pg 1

Can Game-Based Learning Increase EQAO Math Scores?A Statistical Analysis of Prodigy in Kawartha Pine Ridge DSB ...pg 4

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these results are not cause for alarm, it is notable that global school systems that traditionally lagged with respect to producing students who are competent in the STEM disciplines are becoming highly competitive.

This is a concern as Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) literacy has become increasingly more important in the 21st century for multiple reasons. STEM literacy is defined as:

“the ability to adapt to and accept changes driven by new technology work, to anticipate the multilevel impacts of their actions, to communicate complex ideas effectively to a variety of audiences, and perhaps most importantly, to find measured, yet creative, solutions to problems that are today imaginable (Lederman, 1998).”

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By: Roxanne V. Molina, Ph.D. and Herminia Janet Rivera, Ph.D.

TRILLIUM�e

April 2015

Preparing Canada’s Youth for the Future through STEM Education

THE TRILLIUM April 20152

First, to solve many of the challenges of this century that currently include energy, health, and environmental protection, will require STEM literacy. Another concern for the 21st century is the expanding number of careers, not just in the STEM disciplines, that require STEM literacy. Clearly, an important element in the ability to resolve the issues of the 21st century will be a workforce that consists of individuals who are highly-educated, divergent thinkers that possess STEM literacy (Bevins, 2012). As part of becoming a STEM literate individual, children require opportunities to develop the 21st century skills of critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity (Comer, 2010; Becker & Park, 2011).

STEM in the Early Childhood Classroom

Multiple studies point to the importance of quality early learning experiences

(Bybee, 2010; Berk, 2012; McDonald & Howell, 2012; Sharapan, 2012). In particular,

across Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

countries, children who had attended pre-school for more than one year score 53

points higher in mathematics, a difference considered equivalent to more than

one year of schooling, when compared to children who had not attended pre-

school (OECD PISA, 2012). One possibility for engaging children in high quality

learning experiences is through STEM activities involving a modified version of the

engineering design cycle such as the Jamerson Design Process (Barger, Gilbert,

Douglas, & Douglas, 2005). As part of the Jamerson Design Process, children work

collaboratively in teams of two to three to solve a design challenge, which could

include building a bridge to get across two bodies of water or creating a boat using

selected materials.

During the Plan phase, children, with teacher assistance at the pre-school level, clarify the design problem as well design limitations and

requirements. Further, during this phase, children develop their ability to research by investigating the design problem via multiple resources

and recording their notes and findings in a STEM journal. These resources could include bookmarked websites on a computer or Ipad, print or

e-texts, exploration with computer or Ipad apps, games, or manipulatives, which provides children the valuable opportunity to develop their

technological skills early (Bers, Seddighin, & Sullivan, 2013). While the children are working on teams, it is important for each child to develop

their own individual design and record it in their individual STEM journals.

Then, as a team, during the Design phase, the children can decide which design to build as a prototype or whether to create a blended design based on

components of their individual designs. As part of this decision, children engage in discourse while developing their ability to negotiate and collaborate

with others, a valuable part of their social development that promotes the development of their oral language skills (NAEYC, 2002; Lindeman, 2013).

Also, part of the Design phase, children build a prototype based on the design selected during the previous phase. This phase provides the children

the opportunity to develop their creativity while continuing to build their ability to collaborate. As part of this phase, children also work to develop

their critical thinking skills as they work to solve problems that arise while creating their prototype. This stage also engages children in the conceptual

development of the mathematics content in alignment with standards. As children build their design, they develop their spatial reasoning skills, and

depending on the specific task, their measurement, numbers and operations, geometry, and algebraic thinking. For example, while constructing a

bridge with the challenge of connecting two structures, children engage in measurement as well as numbers and operations.

The Jamerson Design Process describes a version of the engineering design cycle modified for use with children in the early childhood and elementary levels and includes four phases:

(1) Plan (2) Design (3) Check (4) Share

Roxanne V. Molina, Ph.D.

· Program Professor – Mathematics (STEM) Education

· Nova Southeastern University

· Abraham S. Fischler School of Education

· North Miami Beach, Florida, USA

Herminia Janet Rivera, Ph.D.

· Program Professor - Elementary and Early Childhood Education

· Nova Southeastern University

· Abraham S.Fischler School of Education

· North Miami Beach, Florida, USA

THE TRILLIUM April 20153

Following the Design phase is the Check phase. During the Check

phase, children test their design. For example, if the design challenge

was to create a boat, then, the children will check if their boat floats in

water. It is possible that the result of their test is that their design did

not work as initially planned. In this case, just as in real life, children

would need to revisit their design, perhaps multiple times, and go back

to a previous stage, possibly the Design or even Research stage. The

experience of revisiting previous phases helps develop their ability to

problem solve as well as their critical thinking skills while stimulating

their emotional development, an important part of the early childhood

curriculum (NAEYC, 2002; Lindeman, 2013). Further, while considering

the failure, students continue to practice their negotiation skills and

ability to collaborate.

Lastly, children engage in the Share phase. During this phase, each

team must present their product and provide an account of their

experience. This account should include an explanation of their research,

how that research helped inform their design, the reason for the selected

team design, issues experienced while building prototypes, and ways

the team dealt with any issues that arose during the Check phase.

This phase provides the opportunity for children to further develop their communication skills, an important part of early literacy. Also, this phase

provides the opportunity for the teacher to further develop the children’s critical thinking skills by ask predicting questions as well as how this experience

would help them to solve the same design challenge in the future.

While there are multiple ways to integrate STEM into the early childhood curriculum, the inclusion of the engineering design cycle provides a vehicle

for tying together STEM content with developmentally appropriate practices. Further, given the value of high quality experiences in the early childhood

curriculum, the integration of STEM as early as preschool provides children an opportunity to develop the 21st century skills needed to be successful

in the future. Children develop these 21st century skills by engaging in critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity throughout each

phase of the engineering design cycle, preparing them to be successful not only academically, but also to be STEM literate in the future careers.

References:

Barger, M., Gilbert, R., Poth, R. & Little,R. (2005). Adapting the engineering design process for elementary education applications. In American Society for Engineering Education “Proceedings of the 2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition.”

Becker, K. & Park, K. (2011). Effects of integrative approaches among science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects on students’ learning: A preliminary meta-analysis. Journal of STEM Education, 12 (5 & 6), 23-37.

Berk, L. E. (2012). Child development (9th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Bers, M., Seddighin, S., & Sullivan, A. (2013). Ready for robotics: Bringing together the “T” and “E” of STEM in early childhood teacher education. Journal of Technology and Teacher Education, 21(3), 355-377.

Bevins, S. (2012). STEM: Moving the liberal arts education into the 21st century. Technology and Engineering Teacher, 71 (4), 10 - 13.

Brochu, P., Deussing, M., Houme, K., & Chuy, M. (2012). Measuring up: Canadian Results. Retrieved from Council of Ministers of Education- Canada (CMEC) Website: http://cmec.ca/Publications/Lists/Publications/Attachments/318/PISA2012_CanadianReport_EN_Web.pdf.

Bybee, R. (2010). Advancing STEM education: A 2020 vision. Technology and Engineering Teacher, 70 (1), 30-35.

THE TRILLIUM April 20154

Comer, J.P. (2010). Schools that develop children. In Bases for curriculum leadership (10th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education.

Council of Ministers of Education- Canada (CMEC). (2012). Measuring up: Canadian results of the OECD PISA study. Retrieved from http://www.cmec.ca/docs/pisa2012/PISA2012_Highlights_EN_Web.pdf.

International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. (2012). Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), 2011. Retrieved from http://www.eqao.com/pdf_e/12/TIMSS_Ontario_Report_2011.pdf.

Lindeman, K.W., Jabot, M., & Berkley, M.T. (2013). The role of STEM (or STEAM) in the early childhood setting. In Learning across the early childhood curriculum: Advances in early childhood education and day care. Bingley, England: Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

McDonald, S. & Howell, J. (2011). Watching, creating, and achieving: Creative technologies as a conduit for learning in the early years. British Journal of Educational Technology, 43 (4), 641-651.

Moomaw, S. & Davis, J.A. (2012). STEM comes to preschool. Young Children, 65 (5), 12-14, 16-18.

National Association for the Education of Young Children (2002). Early childhood mathematics: Promoting good beginnings. Washington D.C.: NAEYC.

Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) (2012). PISA 2012 results in focus: What 15-year-olds know and what they can do with what they know. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/pisa/keyfindings/pisa-2012-results-overview.pdf.

Sharapan, H. (2012). From STEM to STEAM: How early childhood educators can apply Fred Rogers’ approach. Young Children, 67 (1), 36-40.

Abstract:

This paper compares the change in grade 3 EQAO scores for schools that are using Prodigy in Kawartha Pine Ridge DSB against schools that are not.

Prodigy is a free, self-paced math game aligned to the Ontario Math Curriculum for grades 1-8. The data shows that schools where over 85% of grade

3 students were active on Prodigy in the 2013-2014 school year had 11.6% more students meeting standards on EQAO compared to the previous year.

This represents an 11.5% difference over inactive schools, which only saw a 0.1% increase in students meeting standards over the same period of time.

Can Game-Based Learning Increase EQAO Math Scores?A Statistical Analysis of Prodigy in Kawartha Pine Ridge DSB

District Inac�ve Ac�ve High Usage

Grade 3 EQAO Improvements

for Schools on Prodigy

THE TRILLIUM April 20155

IntroductionScores are Declining

With Education Quality and Accountability (EQAO) math scores declining across the province, finding solutions that both engage students and

improve outcomes has become the number one priority for several boards in Ontario1.

A Game-Based Approach

Kawartha Pine Ridge DSB (KPRDSB) was one of the first innovative boards in Ontario to adopt Prodigy. Kawartha Pine Ridge’s Director, Rusty Hick, saw

potential in using a game-based approach to improve math engagement, and his team started informing schools about Prodigy early in the 2013-2014

school year.

“My team and I were very impressed with the way Prodigy incorporates the Ontario Math Curriculum into a video game format that appeals to this generation of students. The supports for teachers are excellent, and the free price tag made it an easy decision to roll Prodigy out to our schools.”

— Rusty Hick, Director of Education

1 Source: Math: Number one problem for Ontario school boards – The Toronto Star (http://www.thestar.com/yourtoronto/education/2014/08/27/

math_number_one_problem_for_ontario_school_boards.html)2 Source: Education Quality and Accountability Office (http://www.eqao.com)3 Source: Kawartha Pine Ridge DSB (http://www.kprschools.ca/about us/GeneralInformation.html)4 Source: EQAO School Board Report – Kawartha Pine Ridge DSB (http://www.eqao.com)

Figure 1 — Decline in EQAO Scores Across Ontario Over 5 Years2

Figure 2 — District Overview (Kawartha Pine Ridge DSB)

Elementary Schools Students (K-12)3 Grade 3 Students4

75 21,828 2,100

71

69 68

67 67

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

% of students mee�ng

standards Grade 3

THE TRILLIUM April 20156

Evaluation MethodSchools and Grouping

All 75 elementary schools in the district are included in the scope of this study, and are divided into three categories based on their activity on

Prodigy: Inactive schools (zero active classrooms in grade 3); Active Schools (at least one active classroom in grade 3); and High-Usage Schools (>85%

active students within grade 3). Grade 6 EQAO results were not analyzed.

A classroom is classified as active if students in the classroom had answered a combined 10,000 math questions on Prodigy (roughly 10 hours of

gameplay per child). Schools in the High-Usage category are also included in the Active Schools category.

Data Collection

All EQAO data (EQAO scores and number of students participating) was collected from publicly available information on EQAO’s website5. All student

activity data (number of students, time played and questions answered) was collected from data logged on Prodigy’s servers. All grade 3 classrooms in

KPRDSB were using the free version6 of Prodigy.

EQAO Comparisons Over Time

All EQAO data was evaluated at the school level, as information for individual classrooms or students is not publicly available from the Education Quality

and Accountability Office. Any improvements on EQAO data are calculated at the school level, by subtracting the percentage of students meeting

standards in the 2012-2013 school year from the percentage of students meeting standards in the 2013-2014 school year. While this introduces factors

which cannot be strictly controlled (e.g. new set of students, differences between teachers, etc.), using a large sample size of students and the district as

a baseline mitigates the impact of these errors.

5 EQAO’s official website - http://www.eqao.com6 Prodigy offers two membership types: Free and Premium. On free memberships, schools have access to 100% of Prodigy’s educational content, reports,

assignments, and teacher features. The premium version unlocks vanity game features such as larger selection of robes, wardrobes, hairstyles, etc.

Figure 3 — School Categorization

Inac�ve Schools

• Zero ac�ve classrooms in grade 3

Ac�ve Schools

• At least 1 ac�ve classroom in grade 3

High-Usage Schools

• 85%+ ac�ve students within grade 3

THE TRILLIUM April 20157

ResultsSchool Breakdown

In grade 3, 24 elementary schools in KPRDSB were active on Prodigy, and 8 of these schools were in the high usage category.

Improvements on EQAO by Category

In grade 3, a weighted average7 of schools that were active on Prodigy showed a 3.0% improvement on EQAO versus only a 0.1% improvement for

schools that were inactive. Schools in the high-usage category improved by an average of 11.6%. This represents an 11.5% improvement over inactive

schools.

Table 1 — Active and High-Usage Schools on Prodigy (Grade 3)

School Category Students (Gr 3)

% Students Active

Pro�cient 2013 (%)

Pro�cient 2014 (%)

Improvement (2014-2013)

Armour Heights High-Usage 15 100% 70 80 10 C R Gummow Ac�ve 66 62% 80 77 -3 Charles Bowman Ac�ve 57 21% 51 47 -4 Dr G J MacGillivray Ac�ve 107 19% 52 60 8 Dr Ross Tilley High-Usage 38 89% 50 66 16 Gra�on Ac�ve 17 65% 64 65 1 Harold Longworth Ac�ve 40 53% 54 55 1 Havelock-Belmont Ac�ve 26 42% 51 42 -9 Hillcrest High-Usage 23 87% 38 43 5 James Strath Ac�ve 45 62% 79 69 -10 John M James High-Usage 38 95% 66 82 16 Kawartha Heights Ac ve 23 61% 68 78 10 Keith Wightman High-Usage 25 84% 61 60 -1 Kent High-Usage 27 96% 53 71 18 King George Ac ve 17 65% 72 77 5 Millbrook/South Cavan Ac ve 36 78% 58 47 -11 Murray Centennial Ac ve 42 29% 55 40 -15 North Cavan Ac ve 20 70% 69 95 26 Norwood Ac ve 30 37% 68 67 -1 Otonabee Valley High-Usage 26 100% 53 57 4 Plainville High-Usage 22 100% 67 55 -12 Ridpath Ac ve 42 31% 47 52 5 Vincent Massey Ac ve 35 60% 86 77 -9 Waverley High-Usage 33 100% 35 52 17 Average 850 67% 61.1 64.1 3.0

7 Please see Appendix A for calculations of weighted averages

THE TRILLIUM April 20158

Distribution of Scores Across Levels

EQAO uses an achievement scale of 1 (low) to 4 (high) for

student scores, with level 3 being the provincial standard8. In

grade 3, schools that were active on Prodigy saw 2.7% more

students move into level 3 from lower levels compared to

the previous year, while there was little movement in inactive

schools. The biggest change was in high-usage schools, where

over 10% of students moved from level 2 to level 3 compared

to the previous year.

8 Source: http://www.eqao.com/Parents/FAQ.aspx?Lan

ConclusionOverall, schools that were active on Prodigy in the 2013-2014 school year saw

large improvements in grade 3 EQAO scores compared to the previous year.

Schools with at least one active grade 3 classroom improved by 3.0%, versus

a 0.1% improvement for inactive schools. Schools where over 85% of grade 3

students were active on Prodigy saw an 11.6% improvement on EQAO scores

compared to the previous year, which was 11.5% higher than inactive schools!

The results suggest that along with classroom instruction and proper

implementation, Prodigy’s game-based approach to learning can have a

positive impact on EQAO scores!

“As a teacher, I have never been a fan of video games. Prodigy changed my mind in a hurry. My students talked non-stop about Math, their mental math abilities skyrocketed and their confidence when completing problem solving questions was boosted. Bring on the standardized testing; we’re ready for a battle.”

Jeffory HargroveGrade 3 Teacher, KPRDSB

Figure 4 — Grade 3 EQAO Improvements for Inactive, Active, and High-Usage Schools on Prodigy

Figure 5 — Change in Distribution of Scores Across Levels for 2013-2014 (Grade 3)

2.0%

0.1%

3.0%

11.6%

District Inac�ve Ac�ve High Usage75 Schools 51 Schools 24 Schools 8 Schools

Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4District 0.0% -2.0% 1.0% 1.0%Inacve -0.7% 0.5% 0.0% 0.1%Acve 1.0% -3.9% 2.7% 0.3%High-Usage 0.4% -12.0% 10.6% 1.0%

THE TRILLIUM April 20159

2013 2014 School Lvl1 Lvl2 Lvl3 Lvl4 Lvl1 Lvl2 Lvl3 Lvl4 Armour Heights 0 6 13 1 0 3 11 1 C R Gummow 0 11 39 10 2 11 45 6 Charles Bowman 4 23 25 5 3 27 24 3 Dr G J MacGillivray 2 59 62 6 3 38 59 5 Dr Ross Tilley 2 19 23 0 2 11 21 4 Gra�on 1 13 23 2 1 4 10 1 Harold Longworth 2 17 23 2 2 15 21 1 Havelock-Belmont 3 14 17 1 3 12 11 0 Hillcrest 5 9 9 0 3 10 10 0 James Strath 0 10 35 6 0 14 25 6 John M James 3 14 28 5 0 3 28 5 Kawartha Heights 0 4 16 1 0 4 13 5 Keith Wightman 0 8 17 0 2 5 15 0 Kent 0 13 13 5 1 6 15 5 King George 0 6 17 6 0 4 9 4 Millbrook/South Cavan 2 11 14 4 3 15 16 1 Murray Centennial 0 16 20 2 0 19 15 2 North Cavan 0 5 11 0 0 1 15 4 Norwood 0 9 19 0 1 9 19 1 Otonabee Valley 2 13 18 0 3 7 15 1 Plainville 1 8 14 4 1 8 12 0 Ridpath 0 18 15 3 0 17 20 2 Vincent Massey 0 4 20 5 1 7 20 7 Waverley 7 21 13 2 7 9 17 0 TOTAL 34 331 504 70 38 259 446 64

2013 2014 Category Lvl1 Lvl2 Lvl3 Lvl4 Lvl1 Lvl2 Lvl3 Lvl4 District 90 702 1175 184 86 636 1137 179 Ac ve Schools 34 331 504 70 38 259 466 64 High-Usage Schools 20 103 131 17 17 57 129 16 Inac�ve Schools 56 371 671 114 48 377 671 115

2013 (% of Students) 2014 (% of Students) Category Lvl1 Lvl2 Lvl3 Lvl4 Lvl1 Lvl2 Lvl3 Lvl4 District 4.2 32.6 54.6 8.6 4.2 31.2 55.8 8.8 Ac�ve Schools 3.6 35.3 53.7 7.5 4.6 31.3 56.3 7.7 High-Usage Schools 7.4 38.0 48.3 6.3 7.8 26.0 58.9 7.3 Inac�ve Schools 4.6 30.6 55.4 9.4 4.0 31.1 55.4 9.5

Appendix A – Calculation of Grade 3 EQAO Results by School

Table 1 — Number of Grade 3 Students by Level in Active Schools

Table 2 — Number of Grade 3 Students by Level in the District, Active, and Inactive Schools

Table 3 — Percentage of Grade 3 Students by Level in the District, Active, and Inactive Schools

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