Technology, particularly advanced forms of artificial intelligence, could improve poor student math performance nationwide, but the role of artificial intelligence is controversial in school systems, according to an Education Week article.
EdWeek Market Brief recently conducted a survey among K-12 educators on AI’s potential in math instruction, and what AI can accomplish if integrated into a math product.
Most respondents (69%) said they believe AI will have either a somewhat or very positive impact on math instruction. Only 13% said it will be somewhat or very negative, with 17% saying that it will be neutral or have no impact.
An AI math product would most likely be recommended if it uses AI to help educators identify where students need extra support or are falling behind in math.
Almost the same percentage said they would recommend math resources that use AI to help teachers create lessons or classroom resources, and close to that number want AI-enabled ways to encourage students to understand why they get an answer wrong and how they can improve.
K-12 leaders surveyed were not as interested in a math resource that uses AI to help students with their homework (28%), or if it can reduce or eliminate biases from lessons (21%).
“Students are losing interest in math,” says Jie Chao, a learning scientist at the Concord Consortium. “All these instruction-support needs, in terms of feedback and guiding, tutoring, and personalization — AI could really help,” she says.
Leaders from smaller districts find more value than those in larger K-12 systems in artificial intelligence capabilities that help teachers create math lesson plans and classroom resources, according to the survey.
Chao says students are more engaged with math learning when the instruction is centered in solving open-ended, real-world problems, according to her research.
Artificial intelligence helps teachers create lessons that are engaging and practical and reflect the “modeling” students will be asked to do in everyday contexts, she says.
“Math modeling is about planning for a day trip or party — all of these problems in real life that you need to solve, and there’s no written word problem for you,” Chao says. Students want to apply themselves to lessons on topics that mirror practical problems, she says.
“We’ve had teachers do this and tell us that they see a very different side of their students in math classrooms,” Chao says.
Education Week
