Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District

HeyMath! Transforms Instruction and Raises Student Motivation Levels

Hampden-Wilbraham Regional School District in Massachusetts is a fully accredited public school district that serves two communities, Hampden and Wilbraham. The district received a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Education to pilot HeyMath! at four Elementary Schools (Grades 5 & 6) - and by integrating our technology into their rigorous core curriculum were able to improve student motivation and learning. This is their story.

The approach

1. Math teachers identified several different topics where they felt their students could learn better using visual explanations from HeyMath! Lessons.
2. These included: Introduction to Fractions, Multiplication of fractions, Adding and Subtracting Integers, Area of a Parallelogram.
3. Teachers used the lessons in class (via a projector/ whiteboard) to make connections with real life and to explain the abstraction using animations and interactive lessons.
4. All students logged in after-school with individual accounts to review the topics that were taught in class.
5. A detailed survey of teachers and students was conducted at the end of 10 weeks to obtain granular feedback on the efficacy of the learning progress.
6. The results are displayed in the adjoining graph.

The results

Teachers HeyMath! supports teachers in raising instructional quality. HeyMath! helps improve content knowledge for teachers and enables differentiated instruction. Math was fun and enjoyable for students.	Students Students enjoyed the classroom experience. HeyMath! helps students understand concepts better. Having HeyMath! at home helps students revise and learn Math at their own pace.

Analysis of teacher and student feedback

This is a fantastic program and I do wish the students next year get exposure to it - I do like the home link, but I fear that the students here will not take advantage of it the way the students in other countries do. I like this program both as re-teaching and enrichment. I loved hearing about the requirements for students in India and Singapore and how different they are...I'm definitely taking the "memorize to 16s" next year!! :) :) Thanks so much and I hope to be working with you next year!
- Teacher

Most of the time I hate to do Math, but I like to do it on HeyMath!. It makes learning more fun than when you are in class listening to the teacher. You actually get to interact in a fun way.
- Student

Questions used in a survey of teachers:
HeyMath! is an effective tool for classroom-based instruction.	100%
HeyMath!'s animation helps teachers explain abstract ideas in a visual and interactive way strengthening student understanding of mathematical concepts.	100%
Online games and interactive activities give students a hands-on experience to verify concepts - and also make learning fun and enjoyable.	100%
Diverse resources in the HeyMath! program help teachers in delivering differentiated instruction to learners of different abilities.	87.5%
HeyMath! can really help deepen content knowledge for teachers, sharpen their teaching skills and help them keep up with global developments in their field.	87.5%
Home access to the program is a great way for students to obtain supplementary help and reinforce their understanding of what they have learned in school.	87.5%
I would recommend HeyMath! to parents as a high quality program that will help students raise their performance in Math.	75%
I recommend that HWRSD continue to provide HeyMath! as a resource for teaching and learning in grades five and six.	87.5%

Here's what the curriculum leader at the school district had to say

The School Committee may recall that the Gifted and Talented Curriculum Pilot Program, allowed us to try HeyMath! a state-of-art technology. It has been interesting and exciting given its global, "world is flat" flavor... It can certainly transform instruction, if our teachers and families fully embrace it...

Nevertheless, I hope to enable grades five and six to have it again next year, since 80% of students and almost 90% of teachers believe it can positively impact learning

HeyMath! meets curriculum criteria set by

• California Learning Resources Network (CLRN)
• Massachusetts Department of Education for Javits Gifted and Talented Education Grants
• British Educational Communications and Technology Agency (Becta), U.K. for Curriculum Online
• Singapore-Cambridge General Certificate of Education (GCE - O)
• Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), India | Indian School Certificate Examinations (ICSE)