Review of Proposal : “Ambient Algebra”

Proposal author: Brandon Lites (blites@unm.edu)

Reviewer: Kellen Zelle (kzelle@unm.edu)

Part 1: Proposal restatement

The proposal for Ambient Algebra is to create an online webapp game platform that hosts fun games that help the targeted populace, college students, learn algebra in a fun and interactive way instead of doing problems out of a text book. The webapp would keep track of students progress in the games, and will provide an online scoreboard to encourage students to learn more to earn the top score. The design of the webapp would not be to replace textbooks, but as a supplement. The motivation behind the project is due to the poor performance of the US in math.

Part 2: Reviewer reaction

I really like the idea, and agree that the youth of the US should not discard math as “too hard” and instead, attempt to learn it to the best of their abilities. The one issue that I have with this proposal is that the main targeted audience are college student’s: I believe that this project should mainly target high school students, but also be accessible to college student’s. This is because I think that the problem of college student’s not knowing algebra should be fixed by them knowing algebra before they get into college. Other than that, its a solid idea, though, I think coming up with games that are actually fun and conduce learning will be a real challenge.

Part 3: Quantitative Scores

Format: 5

The formatting of the proposal was spot on, and cleanly transitioned from one topic to another.

Writing: 3.5

There were a few errors, and the wording in some places was awkward.

Goals and tasks: 3.8

The goals are clear, and the tasks are stated, but there is not an idea on what a game would consist of.

Scope: 4

The scope is clear: this project is targeted towards college students, and will consist of a webapp with games.

Plausibility: 4

The idea is highly plausible, but the main issue in the development will be  coming up with games that produce the intended results of the project.

Novelty: 3

There is a lot of other educational software out in the world; this idea is somewhat different in that it targets an older age group.

Stakeholder identification: 4

Good identification of the stakeholders; from the students, to teachers, to possible educational consultants.

Support and impact: 3.5

The support plan is decently fleshed out, but there is no explanation on how to get the product to be adopted into the educational world.

Evidence: 4

There is strong evidence that something like this should be developed to help increase the math capabilities of students due to the poor performance statistics supplied in the proposal.

Challenges and risks: 4

Challenges and risks are clearly stated in it’s own section and some possible solutions are given to the largest of the challenges.