Inside Our Mind

Listen in to our interview with Nigel Nisbet, a rock musician, AP Physics and AP Computer Science teacher who did a tour of duty in an all-girls school, plus a specialist who devotes his time to reaching into the structure and beauty of mathematics and discussing the “science of learning math” from many angles. Nisbet who is currently the VP of Content Creation at MIND Education mentions how teaching modalities have changed and how learning has had to delve into facts of how people learn and the neuroscience of it all. He mentions a lot of the important mechanisms within the subject of math that are being addressed with advanced technology and what it means. LeiLani points out these important things that the software can do that human teachers find difficult such as true personalization for each point of potential student struggle, followed by Nisbet discussing how the “science of” is developed to manage this positively while still involving the teacher for certain particular human interactions to leverage ex

What is actionable? What is real engagement? LeiLani discusses these things, and a novel definition of equity with Dan Tracy from MIND Research Institute. Dan’s triple threat as a teacher, coder and trainer, makes this podcast discussion an interesting reveal on how to approach instruction – especially the subject of math.

A discussion with Ki Karou about the challenges of teaching today. Karou introduces five areas that the science of learning have identified as key to students’ doing – and how those are aids to accelerating learning, including the awesome capability of helping learners potentially jump through multiple grades to catch up in little time. Listen in to learn about things the neuroscience has uncovered including “self belief,” “schema building,” and more.Ki Karou is the Senior Director of Product Content at MIND Research Institute, where he leads a team oflearning and game designers, artists and mathematicians. Ki has been designing neuroscience-driven ed tech solutions for over a decade and is widely published and a top speaker in the edtech industry.

In this episode of the Learning Leadership Society Podcast, Host LeiLani Cauthen speaks with Nigel Nisbet, Vice President of Content Creation at the MIND Research Institute. Nisbet shifts the question from ‘How should I teach,' to ‘How do they learn?’ It’s a profound difference which helps you to focus on optimal learning methodologies, and to gain an understanding of the Science of Math.

In this episode of the Learning Leadership Society Podcast, Host LeiLani Cauthen speaks with Twana Young, Vice President of Curriculum and Instruction for Mind Research Institute. In addition to access, Young explains that there's also agency and power and identity and belonging, and those are all part of the different dimensions of equity, especially around mathematics. As Mind Research Institute builds out content and curriculum, they are thinking about the opportunities for agency, and who has the power. It is a fascinating look at equity through a different lens.

Host LeiLani Cauthen speaks with Jay Flores, Global STEM Ambassador, and founder of Invent the Change. “If our youth aren't loving math, or at least somewhat excited by it and challenged by it in positive ways, then they're going to have trouble with those problem-solving skills and navigating through ordinary life in the future,” said Flores. This is a fascinating look at the value of mathematics and STEM in the world of Emergent Bilinguals.

In each episode of the Inside Our MIND podcast, we take a look at issues and challenges facing education that we are working to address through research, technology and strategic initiatives.In our latest episode, MIND’s Chief Data Science Officer Andrew Coulson returns for the latest chapter of our ongoing conversations about edtech evaluation and implementation. Andrew and Brian discuss the concept of attendance as it relates to edtech programs like ST Math. Andrew explains how attendance connects to our ST Math Theory of Change, and how establishing consistent attendance impacts students time and progress on the program.Topics Covered in the Podcast:0:45 Intro6:30 Theories of change and the "missing middle"8:30 Attendance as a lens for evaluating implementation 15:00 Data on attendance and impact on time on program  19:00 How we identified attendance as a metric22:30 Applicability of attendance to other programsThanks for listening to the show! Please leave us a review on iTunes, Google Play, Spreaker or w

In each episode of the Inside Our MIND podcast, we take a look at issues and challenges facing education that we are working to address through research, technology and strategic initiatives.Our latest episode features a recent panel discussion about MIND's design approach to ST Math and other learning resources we create for schools, students, and families. Co-hosts Senior Academic Director Brian Coffey and Curriculum Developer Alyssa Ching interview our VP of Curriculum & Instruction Twana Young and VP of Product Matt Feldmann about user feedback, neuroscience, designing for all students, and of course, our beloved penguin Jiji.Topics Covered in the Podcast:2:00 Intros5:00 The WHY behind the approach13:00 How input from teachers, students, and families shapes our programs19:30 Neuroscience and embracing the messiness of learning25:00 Design principles and processes31:00 DEI and the asset-based lens39:00 How a penguin impacts students' love of math learningAs always, if you enjoy the show, please rate a

In our latest episode, Brian and MIND’s Social Impact EVP and Executive Director Karin Wu are joined by Dr. Jo Webber, STEMconnector CEO and President, and the Founder and CEO of Pod. Jo and Karin discuss diversity gaps in STEM, as well as how collaborative action can impact STEM education and provide equitable opportunities for future STEM careers.Jo shares some of her journey with us, including her mathematical roots and love of ST Math. She and Karin talk about the importance of mentorship, the Million Women Mentors (MWM) initiative, and the recent MWM summit. Jo also shares her vision for STEMconnector and how the organization works with partners to build, attract, and retain a sustainably diverse STEM workforce.Topics Covered in the Podcast:0:45 Intro3:00 STEMconnector’s work and building an equitable future7:30 Jo’s journey and mathematical roots11:30 Visualizing math through software15:00 Million Women Mentors and representation in STEM24:00 STEMconnector’s new platform for connecting the STEM workforc

In each episode of the Inside Our MIND podcast, we take a look at issues and challenges facing education that we are working to address through research, technology and strategic initiatives.In our latest episode, I welcome our Massachusetts Professional Learning Designer Elizabeth Birie to the show for a conversation about edtech implementation. Elizabeth reflects back on her firsthand experiences with edtech as a teacher, and some of the challenges educators face when implementing programs. We discuss how her experiences have informed the work Elizabeth has been doing at MIND, supporting teachers, schools, and students who are using our ST Math program.Over the past year, Elizabeth has also been lending her expertise to the EdTech Genome Project. Coordinated by the EdTech Evidence Exchange, the EdTech Genome project is "creating an evidence-based framework to help educators make better-informed decisions about which technologies to use in their classrooms and schools -- and how to implement them most effect

In each episode of the Inside Our MIND podcast, we take a look at issues and challenges facing education that we are working to address through research, technology and strategic initiatives.In our latest episode, Brian welcomes MIND’s EVP and Executive Director of Social Impact Karin Wu back to the show, to reflect on the past thirteen months through a social impact lens. They discuss how our partners worked with and inspired us to meet the moment of school closures, and leverage our collective assets to support students, schools and families. They also talk about how the trauma of the pandemic, school closures, and racial and social injustice have increased awareness of long-standing issues in our education system, and created a window of opportunity for true foundational change to occur.Topics Covered in the Podcast:2:15 - From the Week that Changed Everything to Now4:30 - Time and Assets7:15 - Meeting the Moment of COVID-19 School Closures10:00 - Going Beyond Access to Support Equitable Learning13:30 - Th

Our latest episode features a Women in STEM discussion from a livestream panel hosted by MIND on March 10th featuring MIND’s Content Design Manager Nina Wu, The STEAM Connection founder Danielle Boyer, and Invent the Change Founder and CEO Jay Flores. Their discussion centered on gender gaps in STEM and STEAM education and the workforce, and what individuals and organizations can do to drive the cultural changes that need to occur in order to make STEM and STEAM more inclusive.   Topics Covered in the Podcast:3:00 Intros5:30 The STEM Gender gap conversation in 20218:00 Power and culture in the STEM industry13:00 Removing barriers and biases20:30 Meeting students at what they're passionate about24:00 Danielle's STEAM origins28:00 Creating a sustainable culture change33:00 Actions we all can take37:00 Closing thoughts and recommendationsIf you’d prefer to watch the panel instead, you can head over to MIND’s YouTube channel. You can follow Danielle Boyer on LinkedIn here, and learn more about The Steam Connectio

In each episode of the Inside Our MIND podcast, we take a look at issues and challenges facing education that we are working to address through research, technology and strategic initiatives.In our latest episode, Brian welcomes MIND’s Chief Data Science Officer Andrew Coulson back to the show for a discussion around our ST Math Theory of Change. Andrew explains how the time and energy students invest in ST Math leads to mastery-based progression, math content coverage, and math proficiency gains. In the show notes for this episode on the MIND blog, you can download a copy of the ST Math Theory of Change. Topics Covered in the Podcast:0:452:30 The Importance of a Theory of Change4:15 Minutes are a Starting Point5:15 Self-Pacing, Content Coverage, and Summative Test Advantage7:15 Maximizing Time on Activity in ST Math8:30 Going Beyond Minutes10:45 Productive Struggle12:45 All Content for All Students19:30 Unpacking a Program via Theory of ChangeIntroThe Importance of a Theory of ChangeMinutes are a Starting Po

In each episode of the Inside Our MIND podcast, we take a look at issues and challenges facing education that we are working to address through research, technology and strategic initiatives.In our latest episode, Brian welcomes Paul Blair, Director of Product for ST Math Platforms, to the program to provide some insight into the design process for the new ST Math. Paul sat down with Brian prior to the release of the new ST Math to talk about some of the needs and goals that drove the redesign of the new program, and how the community of ST Math users helped inform the process.Topics Covered in the Podcast:0:45 Intro2:45 The end of Flash and ST Math redesign beginnings 6:00 Enhancements to the games 9:45 Improved facilitation tools for teachers11:45 Maximizing learning time in the program18:00 ST Math user feedback21:15 Measuring progress25:00 A living model for the program26:45 A continuous feedback loop You can learn more about what’s new in ST Math for the 20-21 school year at stmath.com/w

In our latest episode, Brian welcomes Dr. Megan Kuhfeld to the program for a discussion about COVID-related school closures and their effects on students.Megan is a research scientist at the not-for-profit organization NWEA. She seeks to understand students’ trajectories of academic and social-emotional learning and the school and neighborhood influences that promote optimal growth. Her work covers a range of topics, including longitudinal growth modeling, achievement gaps, and summer learning loss. Megan recently co-authored a research brief titled “The COVID-19 Slide: What summer learning loss can tell us about the potential impact of school closures on student academic achievement.” She also co-authored a new working paper, called “Projecting the potential impacts of COVID-19 school closures on academic achievement,” which built on the COVID Slide brief and highlighted the increased variability of student needs that schools will likely be seeing in the future.In her discussion with Brian, Megan provides an

In each episode of the Inside Our MIND podcast, we take a look at issues and challenges facing education that we are working to address through research, technology and strategic initiatives.In our latest episode, Brian welcomes Dr. Molly B. Zielezinski to the show for a discussion on demystifying edtech research. Molly is the founder and CEO of MBZ Labs, where she and her team work to bridge the gaps between edtech, academia, and educational practice. Molly was the co-author of the excellent thought leadership piece “Debunking the Gold Standard Myths in Edtech Efficacy,” and MBZ Labs just published a great resource with NewSchools Venture Fund, “Optimizing Edtech for an Expanded Definition for Student Success.”Molly shares her origin story, and provides insights into the process of making research more usable for both edtech companies, as well as educators and administrators. Topics Covered in the Podcast:0:45 Intro3:00 Molly’s Teaching and learning journey6:00 The disconnect between research and practitione

In each episode of the Inside Our MIND podcast, we take a look at issues and challenges facing education that we are working to address through research, technology and strategic initiatives.In our latest episode, Brian welcomes Senior User Experience (UX) Researcher Alesha Arp back to the show for a discussion on what it truly means to be data-driven. They talk about the overuse of the term “data-driven,” and what it means for data to be actionable. Alesha shares insights from her research and the conversations she’s had with ST Math users that helped inform the redesign of ST Math. You can listen to the episode in the player below:Topics Covered in the Podcast:0:45 Intro4:00 What does data-driven mean?6:00 Focusing on how you get there8:00 The danger of focusing on a single metric12:00 Implementation challenges that informed new ST Math design16:30 Providing the right metrics and making data actionable28:00 Empowering students to set their own goalsThanks for listening to the podcast! Please leave us a revi

In our latest episode, Brian welcomes Senior Director of Product Management Edie Perkins to the show to talk about the recently announced new version of our flagship program, ST Math. Edie provided an overview of the enhancements and new features that will help students, teachers and administrators get even more out of the program. Over the next several months, we’ll be taking a deeper dive into those new features and enhancements, both here on the podcast and on our blog. You can also find even more information on stmath.com, which now has a “What’s New” page, as well as even more of our new ST Math games and resources for you to experience. Topics:0:45 Intro2:30 The word is out4:15 What's not changing5:00 The goal of making more learning happen6:00 The new student experience10:45 The new teacher experience15:45 The new administrator experienceThanks for listening to the podcast! Please leave us a review on iTunes, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker or wherever you are listening to the show. Subscribe to ge

In our latest episode, Brian welcomes Executive Director & VP of Social Impact Karin Wu back to the show. We start off discussing how Karin was recently featured in STEMConnector’s Million Women Mentors: Leaders to Learn From series. Karin has also been conducting visits and participating in events across the country with our donors and strategic partners, like John Deere, Phillips 66, Rockwell Automation, the One8 Foundation and more.Karin shared some experiences and takeaways from these visits, including what our partners have in common that makes them such a great match for MIND.   Topics:0:45 Intro3:30 MWM Leaders to Learn From6:30 Facing Challenges with Optimism8:45 Social Impact Road Trip10:00 Seeing Impact with One8 in MA 13:00 Matthew Peterson's MA Presentation17:00 Getting Inspired with John Deere in IL19:30 Rockwell Automation Fair in ChicagoThanks for listening to the podcast! Please leave us a review on iTunes, Google Play, Spreaker, or wherever you are listening to the show. Subscribe to get

In our latest episode, Brian welcomes MIND’s Lead Mathematician Brandon Smith back to the show, for a discussion on family engagement. Building on our previous discussions of student engagement and getting dynamically active in learning, we explore the challenges that schools face when trying to put together family night events that truly engage parents and students. Brandon explains four common missteps that can be avoided when designing family nights, and provides guidance on how to put families in the driver's seat to provide an experience that both parents and students will take back home with them. Brandon also outlines some of the resources we are developing for schools that will help make designing, organizing and implementing family nights easier and more impactful.Topics Covered in the Podcast:0:45 Intro3:00 Reaching students' families and social networks11:30 Changing the focus15:00 Intrinsic vs.Extrinsic motivators20:30 Who is driving the experience25:30 Shortcoming of station rotation or "fair" mo