Buffalo State Students Team with Robots to Help Seventh- and Eighth-Graders Learn Math
Robots that they build themselves under the direction of Buffalo State College mathematics and mathematics education students are helping seventh and eighth graders at Buffalo’s Public Community School 53 learn problem-solving and general mathematics under an innovative new program developed by Buffalo State’s Center of Excellence in Urban and Rural Education and sponsored by General Motors.
The Saturday morning program High School Ahead Math Academy provides engaging settings for the students at this high-need school to allow them to make sense of mathematical concepts in their own way, according to Sue McMillen, Ph.D., associate professor of mathematics at Buffalo State College.
It’s not your typical classroom, said McMillen. Most students are quite interested in using tools they’ve never seen before to help them learn the math.
The robots, fabricated with Texas Instruments graphing calculators (TI-73), purchased by G.M. for the project, on wheeled robotic carts developed by Norland Research, aid in the teaching of measurement, ratio and proportion, geometric properties, problem solving and computation, McMillen said, and are a first for the city. Approximately 60 children are involved in the project, which also uses other manipulatives objects, such as pattern blocks and algebra tiles that help students understand mathematical concepts to enhance learning.
Seven of the $100 robots, which have just become commercially available, were purchased and three were donated by Norland for the 10-week project.
McMillen said the TI-73 has pedagogical features designed especially for students at the middle level. Its upgradeable, programmable memory can store applications that can be downloaded from the Texas Instruments web site. Those applications, she added, provide a novel setting for students to practice or extend various math skills by entering their own data, transferring between calculators or between a calculator and a computer.
Students control their robots, which can move forward and backward and turn left and right, by entering programs into the TI-73. Using motion detectors connected to the calculators, the students can see graphs that demonstrate such relationships as distance vs. time displayed, and track the motion of the robots as they carry out the students’ programs.
You can write almost any program, McMillen said. By deciding how long to make the robot go, and observing its speed and direction, the students learn about ratio, proportion, measurement, geometry and probability.
General Motors has been a business partner of School 53 since 1999 through the Buffalo Alliance for Education. The company partnered with Buffalo State’s Center for Excellence in Urban and Rural Education last year, funding a program for second graders, and again this year, purchasing all 30 Texas Instrument calculators used in the program, as well as funding the tutors.
It’s a corporate responsibility, said Sandra Schott, administrative assistant and external public relations. The focus of the partnership has shifted from cultural enrichment to educational activities, especially in science and math, she added.
The Saturday morning program High School Ahead Math Academy provides engaging settings for the students at this high-need school to allow them to make sense of mathematical concepts in their own way, according to Sue McMillen, Ph.D., associate professor of mathematics at Buffalo State College.
It’s not your typical classroom, said McMillen. Most students are quite interested in using tools they’ve never seen before to help them learn the math.
The robots, fabricated with Texas Instruments graphing calculators (TI-73), purchased by G.M. for the project, on wheeled robotic carts developed by Norland Research, aid in the teaching of measurement, ratio and proportion, geometric properties, problem solving and computation, McMillen said, and are a first for the city. Approximately 60 children are involved in the project, which also uses other manipulatives objects, such as pattern blocks and algebra tiles that help students understand mathematical concepts to enhance learning.
Seven of the $100 robots, which have just become commercially available, were purchased and three were donated by Norland for the 10-week project.
McMillen said the TI-73 has pedagogical features designed especially for students at the middle level. Its upgradeable, programmable memory can store applications that can be downloaded from the Texas Instruments web site. Those applications, she added, provide a novel setting for students to practice or extend various math skills by entering their own data, transferring between calculators or between a calculator and a computer.
Students control their robots, which can move forward and backward and turn left and right, by entering programs into the TI-73. Using motion detectors connected to the calculators, the students can see graphs that demonstrate such relationships as distance vs. time displayed, and track the motion of the robots as they carry out the students’ programs.
You can write almost any program, McMillen said. By deciding how long to make the robot go, and observing its speed and direction, the students learn about ratio, proportion, measurement, geometry and probability.
General Motors has been a business partner of School 53 since 1999 through the Buffalo Alliance for Education. The company partnered with Buffalo State’s Center for Excellence in Urban and Rural Education last year, funding a program for second graders, and again this year, purchasing all 30 Texas Instrument calculators used in the program, as well as funding the tutors.
It’s a corporate responsibility, said Sandra Schott, administrative assistant and external public relations. The focus of the partnership has shifted from cultural enrichment to educational activities, especially in science and math, she added.
Media Contact:
Nanette Tramont, Director of News Services | 7168784325 | newsservices@bscmail.buffalostate.edu