Mathfinder

Learning math can have very opposite reactions, but a collaborative effort is working to change that not only for math, but for all STEM subjects. On an episode of the Mathfinder podcast, host Gabrielle Bejarano sat down with Dr. Koshi Dhingra, the founder and director of talkSTEM, and Dr. Candace Walkington, an associate professor at the Southern Methodist University. The trio discussed the talkSTEM math walk initiative, and the pair’s new app called Math Finder.TalkSTEM is a Dallas-based nonprofit focused on building and creating more STEM learners via programming such as math walks for the youth. It was founded by Dhingra in 2015. The following year she met Walkington through a mutual friend and the two began researching and collaborating on another project —Math Finder. Walkington said she was impressed by Dhingra’s work and wanted to assist her mission, as well as seeing a chance for further research.“I saw the work Koshi was doing with her nonprofit and saw what an amazing opportunity for research it would offer, and what interesting questions it could explore about how humans learn math,” said Walkington. “So ... started doing some smaller scale research projects with her and then we transitioned into some bigger projects as we got more funding.”The MathFinder app is being funded by the National Science Foundation, stated Walkington, and they are also partnering with her University’s video game design program, the school’s dean, as well as other organizations. Dhingra said that some of these places include the Dallas Zoo, a religious after school group, and a museum —all fundamental organizations where math and the youth have a presence.While a zoo might not be the first place one would think of in terms of math learning, Walkington said one can be surprised because there’s more that meets the eye. She added that even as animals are the main attraction, a lot of math goes into their placement and general livelihood in captivity. In turn that makes for a good learning opportunity in how math is part of everyday life.“There's a lot of math at the Dallas Zoo and we’ve been working with the amazing informal educators there to kind of uncover it even more,” added Walkington. “From the way they build the habitats for the penguins, to the coats on the giraffes—we see concepts from measurement and geometry, and even algebra at the Dallas Zoo.”Math walks have their own benefit for students, and Walkington stated that they’ve even enlisted students to create their own math walks. Despite how challenging it canbe to create a math walk, “they have been incredibly successful. They produce amazing math walks in their communities,” stated Walkington. She also added that research concludes that students’ confidence levels increase.That is an area of importance forDhingra because ultimately that stands to hold more gravity than simply earning top grades.“The reality is we don't need kids necessarily all to be straight A’s in math. We just need them to be confident and competent,” said Dhingra.