Research Projects
Number Ball
Number Ball transforms school playgrounds into playful mathematics learning environments. The project is a partnership between the Cuenta Lab at LMU, the STEM Learning Lab at UCI, and the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD).
Designed in partnership with educators, Number Ball brings mathematical representations into spaces where children already play, creating opportunities to connect movement, play, and mathematics in everyday school environments. Our research has examined how basketball- and soccer-based games on these redesigned schoolyards, which incorporate number lines, visual representations of numerical magnitudes, and operations, impact TK-2nd grade students’ math learning, engagement, and motivation.
Currently, our team is collaborating with educators to co-develop playful classroom activities that connect to and extend the schoolyard games. Our next steps are to evaluate the effectiveness of this expanded version of the program and extend Number Ball to additional schools within SAUSD and other school districts. This work has received support from SAUSD, including a Dissertation Fellowship awarded to Dr. Bermudez for the initial evaluation of the program. Current work to extend Number Ball into the classroom is supported by the Gates Foundation through the CA RPP Mathematics Subnetwork.
Matemáticas en Familia
Matemáticas en Familia is a family math project developed in partnership with the Santa Ana Early Learning Initiative (SAELI) that brings Latine caregivers and children together to co-design playful mathematics activities for use at home.
Rather than designing activities for families, Matemáticas en Familia positions families as equal partners in the design process. Through a series of co-design sessions, caregivers and children share their everyday experiences, practices, and ideas to inform the development of playful math activities. Together, families and researchers create and refine games that build upon families’ funds of knowledge while providing opportunities for children to engage with early mathematics through play.
Our research examines how this participatory approach can inform the design of culturally meaningful family math resources and support positive math-related attitudes and engagement with mathematics at home. The co-designed activities have also been piloted in kindergarten classrooms, allowing us to explore how learning experiences developed with families can extend into schools. This research received support from the Center for Family Math through the Next Generation of Family Math Researchers Dissertation Fellowship awarded to Dr. Bermudez.
SABER en Familia
SABER en Familia brings families and educators together to co-create early learning experiences grounded in families’ knowledge, experiences, and cultural practices. The project is a partnership between the Cuenta Lab at LMU, OCEAN at UCI, SAELI, and SAUSD. The name draws on the Spanish word saber—to know or knowledge—reflecting the project’s focus on recognizing families as important sources of knowledge about their children and communities.
Through a series of Family School Nights, families and educators engage in playful activities around math, science, and biliteracy while sharing experiences with other families. Families contribute knowledge from their everyday lives, and educators consider how these insights can inform the activities, examples, and approaches they use with children in the classroom. In this way, SABER en Familia creates opportunities for educators to learn from families and use families’ knowledge to inform curriculum.
Our research examines how these collaborative experiences can strengthen family–school connections and support educators in developing culturally meaningful learning experiences. We are also interested in families’ and educators’ experiences with the partnership and how this approach can support more equitable home-school partnerships. This work is supported by the Gates Foundation through the CA RPP Mathematics Subnetwork and by the LEGO Foundation