Math teachers know that some mathematical mistakes are made over and over again. Research suggests these kind of repeated errors are often due to students' underlying misconceptions.

Teachers and researchers worked in partnership to create AlgebraByExample assignments that:

  • Target students’ misconceptions
  • Effectively remediate repeated errors
  • Fit flexibly with many different textbooks and teaching styles
  • Support the Common Core Practice Standards
  • Promote students’ spontaneous mathematical discussions

AlgebraByExample helps students:

  • Identify, discuss, and reduce misconceptions
  • Deepen correct conceptual understanding
  • Strengthen procedural skills

AlgebraByExample provides teachers:

  • Insights into students' thinking
  • Launch points for mathematically rich discussion
  • Shared language for analyzing mistakes

No! That’s not right because...

a3 = a + a + a

Analyzing.

Explaining.

Solving.

Development of AlgebraByExample was led by Julie Booth (Temple University) through a SERP collaboration with the Minority Student Achievement Network (MSAN). The SERP-MSAN partnership has been supported to conduct this work by The Goldman Sachs Foundation and by the Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education, through Grant R305A100150 to Strategic Education Research Partnership Institute. The information provided does not represent views of the funders.

The AlgebraByExample Team