How we bridge the gap between research and practice
Many math solutions claim to be evidence-based, but what does that really mean? At the surface level, you’ll see student growth results. But if you look deeper, you might—or might not—see a research foundation. We have both.
Our research-driven core blended Middle School and High School Math Solutions are rooted in five proven principles from the field of learning science.
Learning Science Principle 1: Active Learning
Active learning means that students’ minds are active in the classroom. For strong learning gains, students must engage in "minds-on" activities where they produce knowledge that isn't immediately available. That’s why we live by the mantra "learning by doing."
How We Promote Active Learning
Students are active from beginning to end in our curriculum. They’re answering questions, making connections, discussing with peers, exploring ideas with patty paper, and more.
As Marty Cardenas, Secondary Math Facilitator at Grand Prairie Independent School District in Texas, shares, "Anyone can be a math person, but to learn math, you have to DO math. Carnegie Learning is a great resource to help students do real math so that they can learn real math."
Learning Science Principle 2: Motivation
Student motivation is key to academic achievement, and achievement increases motivation. Thus, when students see that they can improve their knowledge and skills, their grades improve, even in future courses.
How We Promote Motivation
Our curriculum keeps motivation high by making math relevant: students apply the concepts they’ve learned to real-world situations and careers. The MATHia software shows how their skills grow in real time.
Learning Science Principle 3: Memory
To make learning stick, students need to identify and attend to information that’s relevant. They must also hold information in working memory and think about it in different ways so that it can be integrated into long-term memory.
How We Promote Math Memory
To help students remember what they learn, we highlight important concepts in a variety of ways in both MATHia and MATHbook and promote ample practice throughout the curriculum. We also provide clean, uncluttered spaces for note-taking in both MATHbook and MATHia to minimize working memory load.
Learning Science Principle 4: Transfer
One way to help students transfer skills they learn at school to other contexts is by helping them draw connections between different concepts and contexts, which helps strengthen memory retrieval of knowledge in any context. Also, providing learners with opportunities to transfer what they've learned–early and often–promotes more successful transfer in the future.
How We Promote Transfer
With MATHbook, students frequently connect different concepts, not only building upon prior knowledge but also problem-solving in new ways. MATHia workspaces focus students on solving both symbolic and contextual problems, often within the same workspace.
Learning Science Principle 5: Feedback
The effectiveness of feedback depends on students' current motivational states. Decades of research show that fine-grained, timely feedback to students can help to minimize their floundering during problem solving.
How We Promote Effective Feedback
When goals are clear, students will be more likely to be receptive to feedback, so MATHbook gives teachers clear Learning Goals at the start of each lesson, and MATHia's state-of-the art AI engine provides students with immediate feedback during problem solving.
Carnegie Learning is helping students learn why, not just what. Born from more than 30 years of learning science research at Carnegie Mellon University, the company has become a recognized leader in the ed tech space, using artificial intelligence, formative assessment, and adaptive learning to deliver groundbreaking solutions to education’s toughest challenges. With the highest quality offerings for K-12 math, ELA, literacy, world languages, professional learning and more, Carnegie Learning is changing the way we think about education, fostering learning that lasts.
Explore more related to this authorAnyone can be a math person, but to learn math, you have to DO math. Carnegie Learning is a great resource to help students do real math so that they can learn real math.
Marty Cardenas, Secondary Math Facilitator, Grand Prairie ISD, Texas
