A Fun, Fresh Way to Learn the Basics of Fractions

Our Motivation

24% of kids dislike math

20% of 4th graders are below basic in math

Foundational math skills have a great impact on future education and overall academic success. If children cannot enjoy learning math, they will fall behind in math competency.

Problem Statement

Elementary school students often find that learning fractions is boring and difficult, and consequently aren't engaged in it.

We set out to answer: How might we create an experience for young students who are learning fractions that is more fun and engaging than existing systems?

Human-Centered Design Methods

Our users are primarily children grades 3-5 who either struggle in math class or find themselves bored with current teaching methods. Our stakeholders are primarily parents, teachers, principals, and tutors.

Our initial pretotypes (low resolution prototypes) were based on survey results from teachers and children:

Out of 16 responses, 38% of surveyed K-5 teachers recognized fractions as one of the hardest subjects for their students
Out of 21 responses, 48% of surveyed K-5 students recognized fractions or a related concept as difficult
Out of 11 responses, 55% of interviewed K-5 teachers and students recognized fractions or a related concept as difficult

Reviewing the data, we decided to focus on combatting fraction education and engagement.

Our First Pretotypes

Pretotype B (Right)

The student sets a denominator using the knob. Then, they are assigned random numerators based on that denominator. Given the numerator and denominator, the goal is to move the slider to the spot where that corresponding fraction would lie on a number line from 0 to 1. The game is played until they get one wrong. Then, their score is displayed where the numerator is located. This allows students to get practice with linear representations of fractions.

Pretotype A (Left)

The goal is for the student to discern which fraction is greater. If you answer correctly (by pressing the button next to the larger fraction), a positive sound plays, and if you answer incorrectly, a negative sounds plays. The colored cubes represent the numerator, and the entire matrix represents the denominator. Additionally, numerical fractions can appear.

Final Design

Pretotype testing suggested that we needed to make some changes to our original ideas:

Improve the durability

The updated housing is acrylic and much more resistant to wear and tear when compared with the foam core pretotypes.

Make it colorful

The uniform yellow housing, blue and green buttons, and LED screen give a more kid-friendly look than the previous blue paper and white foam boxes.

Improve the fraction output

The LED screen additionally yields higher resolution and more detailed ways to represent fractions. While we previously displayed rectangular fractions and numbers limited to an 8x8 matrix, the prototype now displays clearer rectangular, circular, and numerical fractions.

Add a number line

A basic number line was added to show where the slider begins, ends, and to label some reference points.

Left and Right side views of Familiar Fractions: Both views provide a kid-friendly visual appeal with fun logos. On the left side you can see the given name of the prototype, Gilbert, in addition to its power supply. On the right side is our team name logo.

Button Input

This game compares two fractions, alternating in difficulty between comparing numbers, squares, circles, or a combination of the two.

Dial Input

This game asks you to create your own fraction using a dial to match the fraction on the left.

Slider Input

This game asks you to create your own fraction using a slider to match the fraction on the left.

Use Case

A student in 4th grade who usually hates it when their teacher gives out math worksheets decides to try a different approach: using Familiar Fractions to bring the fun back to fractions.

A student can use Familiar Fractions everywhere they go, and they get real time feedback and fun that worksheets may not provide.

System Diagram

Mechanics

Code

Design Goals

Fun and engaging for kids: The most important goal is to make a fun game design because of the large problem of many children disliking math
Display fractions in multiple ways: This is a further complexity that adds to the engagement and fun of the game. This can potentially add to a larger learning experience

Varying Difficulties: This provides an additional complexity to the game and adds to its long-term viability and engagement. This can potentially add to a larger learning experience

Colorful: Children will enjoy a more colorful design, so it is paramount for their enjoyment

Lightweight & optimized design: Children should not feel burdened by the design, and it should be more cost effective and easy to make

Help kids learn Math: In addition to making math fun, learning math is another issue that needs solved

Results

Based on testing our prototype with 17 students:

All students believed the prototype was fun to a certain extent. With the question, "How much fun did you have?", on a scale of 1-5, 11 students gave the prototype a 5
The prototype can display fractions numerically, circularly, and rectangularly
The prototype has 3 different types of input in addition to 6 difficulties (combinations of comparing fraction types: numerical vs. numerical, numerical vs. rectangular, numerical vs. circular, rectangular vs. rectangular, rectangular vs. circular, circular vs. circular)
The housing is a child-friendly color, yellow, and the addition of stickers brings another joyful flair to the design
While children did not express discomfort with the design, it needs to be cheaper and easier to reproduce
Without the Institutional Review Board's (IRB) approval, we cannot currently determine whether our prototype helps children learn math

Next Steps

We would first like to test with more students and build a more statistically supported prototype.

In the future we will seek IRB approval to prove whether our prototype helps students learn math.

In terms of the design, we would like to develop a more cost-effective, one component housing, that looks and feels better.

Acknowledgements and References

PFA’s Nate Carnovale and Mackenzie Stiles for their support and help along the way

Mr. Sundgren and Ms. Keri for giving us an opportunity to test with their kids
Clara Osburg for greatly helping with the housing
Dr. Joseph Samosky for constantly pushing us and providing us with amazing resources

Kendall, Ainsley, and Alec for helping us with our video

The rest of the AOM staff for their dedication to the class and to excellence

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