Decades of research show that when learning is fun, it’s not only more effective but also keeps young people truly engaged. Building on this research, Dr. Andres Bustamante and his team at UC Irvine are combining community partnership, cultural context, and play to transform everyday spaces like parks, bus stops, and local markets into vibrant hubs for learning all across Santa Ana, California.

Recently, Dr. Bustamante was invited onto the UC Irvine Podcast to discuss his work with Playful Learning Landscapes: common places where families and community members naturally gather that are designed to invite play and learning. He shared how his team is partnering with communities to ensure that these learning opportunities are deeply rooted in local values, cultural practices, and familiar routines. This ensures the installations are effective, useful, and sustainable to the local community where they are present.

One such installation is Fraction Ball. Designed at the suggestion of teachers at El Sol Academy, Fraction Ball integrates fractions into the three-point arc and smaller arcs on the basketball court, creating a hands-on, engaging way for students to understand fractions. The court features both fraction and decimal representations, helping students visualize their equivalence. Rational numbers, like fractions and decimals, are notoriously challenging for students, yet they are foundational for future success in math learning, especially for algebra.

With funding support from EF+Math, a program of the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF), and in partnership with the Santa Ana School District, Fraction Ball has been introduced to 5,000 students across 27 schools. Initial experimental studies conducted over the last five years have consistently shown strong positive impacts on student learning.

Listen to the podcast to learn more about Dr. Bustamante’s work and the success of Fraction Ball so far.

Math skills are and will remain in high demand in the job market, so it’s critical that students experience rich math learning experiences, in school and beyond, that build their confidence as math learners. In a recent Education Week article, AERDF president and CEO, Auditi Chakravarty asks us to consider, “What kind of exposure do kids get at a really young age to numbers and numeracy to build that same kind of literacy [as reading readiness]?” Providing all young people with opportunities to build mathematical proficiency will support their academic achievement and create pathways to a wide variety of careers.

As such, it’s of great concern when recent NAEP scores indicate that nearly 40% of 8th graders and almost 25% of 4th graders in the U.S. are below basic proficiency in math. One reason this may be the case is math anxiety. What’s described as a learned emotional response to math-related activities, math anxiety is said to affect 20-30% of students. Math anxiety can look like feeling blank, sweating palms, and a racing heartbeat when faced with math problems.

Co-executive director of EF+Math, a program of AERDF, Michelle Tiu, recommends mastering basic math facts and focusing on conceptual understanding over math drills and timed tasks to promote math fluency. “Not possessing fluency adds a lot of cognitive load to each step of a mathematical process. If students’ cognitive load is not taken up with thinking about basic fluency facts, it frees them up to be able to focus on higher-order thinking and conceptual understanding.”

Read the article to learn more about evidence-based strategies to mitigate math anxiety and improve student learning.