Research Projects

Research projects of Jessica Hunt are supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Institute of Educational Sciences (IES), the NC State Foundation, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NC-DPI), and NC State College of Education.  Below is more information about Jessica's projects.

Fostering Learning, Identity, and Participation in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Education (FLIP-STEM)

The Fostering Learning, Identity, and Participation within Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (FLIP-STEM) Hub is funded by the NC State Foundation and the NC State College of Education. It aims to help support racially, linguistically, and/or neuro diverse middle school students in STEM education.

By engaging with data science, students will learn how to identify and build datasets to analyze, interpret, and make inferences about. This process empowers students to uncover patterns connected to their own experiences as they explore personally, locally, and culturally relevant questions. The hub’s ultimate goal is to support students to connect the questions to innovative technologies that students will ultimately design and develop.

Network for Invivo Educational Research (NIER)

Funded by the National Science Foundation, we are working with Gooru Navigator (PI), a non-profit organization that operates as a “GPS for Learning”, on this Network for In Vivo Research (NIER): Mid-Scale Research Infrastructure Incubator project to develop tools and dashboards to give vetted researchers the ability to validate and scale the impact of their work with millions of learners. Our work will offer three key capabilities. First, researchers can configure their innovations (content, tools, or algorithms) to operate in Gooru Navigator. Second, researchers will be able to identify and obtain consent for the use of anonymized data from existing Navigator users or their own cohorts on Gooru Navigator. They can then access data schema and longitudinal datasets from these cohorts to efficiently validate their research. Third, the NIER portal will allow researchers to request that their validated innovations be integrated into Gooru Navigator’s technology for scaled impact, to share their research with the full community.

Model Mathematics Education w/Dream2B Video Game

This four-year project funded by the National Science Foundation developed a game based curriculum called Model Mathematics Education, or ModelME, for students with learning disabilities and difficulties in fourth through sixth grade. The program is grounded in a universally designed, award winning video game called "Dream2B", a serious game involving fraction concepts and STEM/ICT careers. Our goal is to increase engagement, fraction conceptions, and STEM interest for elementary and middle school school students.

Conversations Across Boundaries: Bringing PK-2 Math Experts Together

Leaders in mathematics and elementary education are organizing and hosting a conference that brings together researchers from mathematics education, cognitive science, and special education. The work is grounded in a common goal via constructive conversations and is purposefully framed to bring forth areas of agreement and disagreement when it comes to early mathematics teaching and learning. Organized over three face-to-face meetings with follow-up virtual meetings, the conference is designed to generate a set of teaching and learning principles as well as a collaborative research agenda among the fields, reflecting existing agreements regarding early mathematics and uncovering areas of disagreement where further exchange and generation of knowledge is needed.

Funded by the National Science Foundation, we documented fraction learning trajectories for students with learning disabilities. Also, we developed and tested a curriculum for asset based fraction intervention for use in 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. Funded through an NSF CAREER award to Jessica Hunt.

Funded by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NC-DPI), the At-Home Learning Initiative helped promote remote learning access across the state of North Carolina. Specifically, the project is geared toward families who lack access to a stable internet connection.  We have 192 literacy and math lessons for PreK-5 students posted on PBS and You Tube. Below is a sample lesson!

#GoOpenNC

Funded by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), “Teaching Math to Young Children” supported awareness and use evidence-based principles and instructional materials to support the mathematical learning of young children. We create free online professional learning, housed at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation, for teachers and parents to engage in with young children related to viewing the world mathematically, dedicated time for math throughout the day, developmental progressions, and monitoring progress.