The upgrades include improved tools for fostering student discourse, professional development for teachers, and an engaging new student experience
IRVINE, Calif. (September 10, 2024) — MIND Education, a leader in neuroscience-driven math education solutions, has released transformative upgrades to the ST Math experience for students and teachers. The revolutionized curriculum introduces brand new games, an engaging island-themed student journey, an improved educator dashboard, enhanced puzzle talks to foster mathematical discourse, and comprehensive teacher workshops and professional learning.
Drawing on over 25 years of neuroscience research, MIND’s approach in ST Math emphasizes learning by doing – an approach proven to foster critical thinking, creativity, and ensure deep conceptual understanding. These enhancements ensure learning experiences that are both engaging and effective at impacting positive outcomes.
“ST Math’s new enhancements will accelerate math learning and conceptual understanding in less time,” said Jason Mendenhall, chief product officer at MIND Education. “Students will make remarkable progress with less ‘unproductive struggle,’ resulting in significantly improved math learning outcomes. Games that actively engage students help them avoid the passive learning trap of merely seeking the right answers, instead equipping students with the skills they need to tackle real-world problems.”
The 34 new games for grades 3-5 offer:
- Low floor, high-ceiling learning to meet each student where they are;
- Immediate formative feedback;
- Insightful, interactive virtual manipulatives;
- Visual reasoning challenges to develop strong problem-solvers;
- Exercises that facilitate conceptual grasp and sense-making; and
- Tools to motivate students to tackle challenges, build perseverance, and boost their self-confidence as “math people.”
ST Math’s new island-themed user experience is designed to empower, engage, and inspire students to embark on their learning journey and bring their math objectives to life. Using a map, students can visually track their progress, celebrate achievements, and stay motivated by seeing their milestones come to life along an interactive pathway.
The program’s upgraded, user-friendly teacher dashboard empowers educators to stay connected to student progress, providing quick access to a streamlined reporting system and easy access to student data. With expanded performance metrics, the advanced dashboard offers deeper insights to tailor instruction to meet individual student needs.
ST Math Puzzle Talks have been redesigned to better fit into fast-paced schedules, to be easier to find and use for teachers within the ST Math platform, and to be more accessible to all users. Similar to number talks or math talks, Puzzle Talks are designed to encourage students to communicate and deepen their mathematical understanding. They can be used to:
- Leverage the visual puzzles of ST Math;
- Launch or review a topic;
- Offer intentional sequences of 3-6 puzzles;
- Cover major grade-level topics and focus areas; and
- Engage students in meaningful mathematical discourse.
New educator professional learning packages seamlessly integrate ST Math into educators’ core instruction. The Curriculum Integration Package features dynamic, collaborative sessions to empower curriculum writers, enabling them to easily embed ST Math into their district’s core curriculum. The Math Discourse with Puzzle Talks package invites educators to participate in a multi-session workshop using a modeling package designed to empower educators in facilitating rich mathematical discourse.
Newly updated workshops will empower educators to maximize the instructional power of ST Math. The Facilitating Math Discourse with Puzzle Talks Workshop focuses on engaging students in meaningful mathematical discourse and problem-solving using ST Math’s completely redesigned Puzzle Talks. The Curriculum Integration & Targeting Standards Workshop allows educators to explore and experience the flexibility of ST Math within their core math program, while also building a deep understanding of how to target specific standards.
To discover how ST Math’s new enhancements can transform math learning in your classrooms, visit ST Math – What’s New?.
About MIND Education
MIND Education engages, motivates, and challenges students towards mathematical success through its mission to mathematically equip all students to solve the world’s most challenging problems. MIND is the creator of ST Math, a pre-K–8 visual instructional program that leverages the brain’s innate spatial-temporal reasoning ability to solve mathematical problems; and InsightMath, a neuroscience-based K-6 curriculum that transforms student learning by teaching math the way every brain learns so all students are equipped to succeed. During the 2023-24 school year, MIND Education and ST Math reached more than 2.17 million students and 115,000 educators across the country. Visit MINDEducation.org.
