23 Jul Nspired ALGEBRA Project Works to Increase Algebra Understanding
Nspired ALGEBRA: Algebra Lessons that Give Experiences for Building Reasoning and Achievement is a professional development project involving work with teachers at Moanalua Middle School and Moanalua High School. The project provided teachers with the opportunity to increase their content understanding and instructional strategies and provide deeper student understanding by using Texas Instruments’ TI–Nspire networked technology and formative assessment. The project spanned the 2011–2012 school year and addressed tough-toteach, tough-to-learn topics including percentage/proportional reasoning, reasoning with algebraic concepts, rate of change/linearity/related graphs, systems of equations/manipulating expressions, and exponential growth/decay.
Nspired ALGEBRA built upon CRDG work in Project FANC: Formative Assessment in a Networked Classroom, which was a three-year study that looked at growth in student achievement, teacher and student opinions and attitudes, and teachers’ effectiveness in implementing formative assessment using the TI–Navigator system.
Keith Ishihara, at CRDG while on sabbatical leave from Moanalua High School, worked with CRDG faculty members to coordinate project activities (see story on page 19). Along with guidance from Teri Ushishima, Complex Area Superintendent of the Central District, Ishihara made arrangements for Hawai‘i Department of Education professional development credit to be available for participating teachers.