CICS, Education Faculty Receive Institute of Diversity Sciences Seed Grant

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April 15, 2022

Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences Associate Professor Ivon Arroyo and Research Professor Beverly Woolf have received a seed grant from the UMass Amherst Institute of Diversity Sciences (IDS) for a collaborative project with Marialuisa Di Stefano, assistant professor of language, literacy, and culture in the College of Education. 

The project, “Multi-Racial Bilingual Personalized Digital Tutors for Mathematics Learning,” focuses on supporting Latinx students in grades 5 to 8 in learning STEM topics. The team will modify MathSpring, an existing federally funded, online learning technology built with National Science Foundation (NSF) support, to foster learning in math classes and after-school programs. Two of the planned updates include first adapting the language of instruction (Spanish or English) based on student needs, and second, expanding the number of racially and ethnically diverse avatars available to students.

Arroyo, Di Stefano, and Woolf will investigate, among other topics, the degree to which students experience increased subject matter learning in mathematics, as well as language acquisition. They will also examine whether or not the diverse avatars affect students’ self-perception as competent mathematics learners.

Here is more information about the IDS seed grant program and a list of previous recipients.