Enlearn
Project Overview
The Enlearn team believes that math is a creative endeavor requiring experimentation, analogy, and debate—all of which benefit greatly from executive function skills (EFs). They believe that math education should not just teach mathematical rules, but also help students think like mathematicians.
The Enlearn project developed adaptive math software, teacher professional development, and classroom resources that support students and teachers in practicing “creative math,” enabling them to demonstrate their thought processes and alternative solution approaches. The project tightly integrates supports for EFs into problem solving experiences, making students’ thinking visible in real time and providing just-in-time feedback tailored to each learner’s evolving needs.
Enlearn’s work included enhancing a diagnostic system, developing teacher professional development focused on math assessment for English learners, and creating digital games that strengthen cognitive flexibility and working memory in challenging math contexts. Enlearn’s tools are designed to present learners with multiple opportunities to experience and practice flexible problem solving and communication skills, with supporting technology that encourages experimentation and strategic thinking.
Project Approach
Enlearn’s approach integrates math learning prototypes, adaptive tools, and equity to help students experiment, reason, and communicate like mathematicians.
Math Learning Prototypes
Enlearn employed rapid cycles of prototyping, user testing, and iteration to create a series of activities that target critical math skills with integrated EF skill supports.
Adaptive Tools
Learning software that adapts to students and is designed to promote student experimentation and strategic thinking.
Designed for All Learners
Math activities designed to be accessible to a wide range of math levels and integrated supports for emergent bilingual students and their teachers.
Project Impact
The Enlearn project rapidly iterated on innovative prototypes and technology to test novel approaches for understanding and supporting students in learning rigorous math.
Key Insights and Innovations
Rapid prototyping and agile iteration resulted in numerous prototypes that support students in learning rigorous math
The Enlearn team iteratively developed and tested a wide variety of software and paper math activities—including the Swap Puzzle, Which One is Special, SPOT IT, and concentration/memory card games—designed to promote cognitively flexible thinking while covering different math topics. Through rapid prototyping and agile iteration, the team was prolific in testing different approaches to EF support—experimenting with activity design, computer feedback mechanisms, and scaffolding strategies to identify what helps students engage most deeply with mathematical concepts through experimentation and strategic thinking while developing critical EFs. A version of the “Which One is Special” game that was focused on statistics was integrated into Spark Math’s curriculum, demonstrating how focused EF skill activities can support broader mathematical learning.
Real-time diagnostic reveals student thinking as problems unfold
Enlearn DX, a dynamic diagnostic assessment, tracks students’ problem solving processes in real time to provide in-the-moment supports and customize the tool to each student’s needs. The assessment is built to rapidly acquire granular data about student understanding. It continuously improves Enlearn’s real-time diagnostic capacity, enabling it to identify and address known misconceptions and discover unknown misconceptions or conceptual obstacles. The platform allows students to toggle between “explain mode” and “student work mode” at any point, making their thinking visible while providing detailed explanations for each step. A built-in dashboard displays personalized insights about students’ math and executive function performance, enabling teachers to see where students need support.
Innovative supports for emergent bilingual students
Enlearn developed a professional development course for educators focused on equitable mathematical assessment for emergent bilingual students. In partnership with Yesmi Rios, a member of EF+Math’s Program Advisory Board, the course was successfully implemented at the Nevada Association of State Administrators conference and a Clark County, Nevada high school. Enlearn extended this work by creating a specialized prototype for math tutors of emergent bilingual students, and technological supports and teacher materials for math teachers of English Language Learners, such as automatic discussion questions for practicing mathematical vocabulary.
Cross-portfolio collaborations advance understanding of cognitive processes
Enlearn partnered with the Pennesota project to integrate webcam-based eye-tracking technology into their platform, exploring how eye movements during mathematical problem-solving relate to task-unrelated thought and mind-wandering behavior. The team also collaborated with Spark Math to develop games for their statistics unit. These partnerships demonstrate how teams across the EF+Math portfolio leveraged complementary expertise to deepen understanding of student cognition and expand the reach of effective tools.
Research Highlights
Creating Tools for Equitable Research and Development
Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge the leadership of Enlearn, with collaboration from the University of Maryland, College Park and the University of Washington.
Explore Our R&D Projects
The EF+Math portfolio of R&D projects developed innovative math learning products and advanced research on mathematics learning, executive function skills, and equitable learning experiences using inclusive R&D methods.