Xin’s math problem-solving program featured by Made for Math

Do you ever struggle with math? Perhaps this mathematics problem-solving intervention program created by a Purdue University College of Education professor could help you.

Math tutoring company Made for Math recently featured Yan Ping Xin’s Conceptual Model-based Problem Solving (COMPS) on its website as an evidence-based mathematics problem-solving intervention program. It is designed to help at-risk students solve math problems.

Xin, a professor in the Department of Educational Studies’ Special Education program, pioneered Conceptual Model-based Problem Solving in 2008 (Xin, Wiles, and Lin, Journal of Special Education). Because many scholars, educators, and practitioners in the field wanted more program details, she compiled this work in a book, Conceptual Model-Based Problem Solving (2012).

The program is also included in a chapter of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ publication Useful and Useable Research Related to Core Mathematical Practices to “inform teaching practice in K-12 mathematics classrooms and beyond” (Silver & Kenney, 2015).

Xin researches mathematics problem-solving involving at-risk students. Her work has been referenced in sources such as the National Mathematics Panel Final Report, the What Works Clearinghouse, and the Institute of Education Sciences Practice Guide.

“My research in math problem-solving has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for over a decade,” Xin said. “Through collaborative work, my research team has created two math problem-solving computer tutoring programs. One addresses multiplicative reasoning/problem-solving and the other focuses on additive reasoning/problem-solving. I have also been funded by NSF’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program to promote the marketing of the computer tutors my research team and I have created.”

Xin collaborated on the research with Dr. Signe Kastberg, professor in the College’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction; Dr. Ron Tzur, formerly a professor in Curriculum and Instruction; Dr. Victor (Yingjie) Chen, associate professor in the Purdue Polytechnic Institute; and Dr. Si Luo, a former professor in Purdue’s Department of Computer Science.

Adrianne Meldrum, the CEO & Founder of Made for Math, interviewed Xin about her research and the COMPS intervention program in Dyscalculia & Word Problem Solving (Episode 16).

Xin, along with co-editors Tzur and Thouless, recently published another book, Enabling Math Learning of Struggling Students, which has been adopted as the required textbook for a core course, “Math Curricula for Learners with Exceptionalities” in the College’s Special Education online master’s program. “Including the chapters authored by myself as well as Professor Kastberg, math instructional programs included in this book will impact the teaching practice of preservice and in-service teachers worldwide,” Xin said.

Source: Yan Ping Xin, yxin@purdue.edu