InsightMath is a neuroscience based curriculum that transforms student learning by teaching math the way the brain learns so all students are equipped to succeed. Building on the award-winning and patented ST Math program and 25 years of research, InsightMath was created by MIND Research Institute, a social impact organization specializing in neuroscience and education research dedicated to ensuring that all students are mathematically equipped to solve the world’s most challenging problems. InsightMath will be available in spring 2024.
Neuroscientists have found that when learning is built instead of being transferred, deep learning occurs. InsightMath is designed to facilitate student thinking, changing the instructional approach from “how do we teach?” to “how do students learn?” InsightMath embodies the neuroscience of learning. From the perception action cycle, to the schema building potential of student discourse, InsightMath empowers teachers to apply the latest research in their classrooms, equipping all students as they tackle challenging math problems and build lasting conceptual understanding.
Formats/platforms used:
InsightMath is a blended program with both online and print materials.
Primary website URL:
Problem solved:
It is important that every student, teacher, administrator, family, and community see themselves in math. Math is from everywhere, in everything, and for everyone.
InsightMath equips students with the agency to be a knower, doer, and sense maker of math. It enables students to have robust creativity to explain their thinking. Students are insightful, perceptive as they solve problems. The mathematical experiences allow student voices to be heard, sharing strategies, thoughts, and perspectives. Students are positioned to see each other as mathematical resources and build on each other’s ideas.
Teachers’ math instruction is transformed because they know the neuroscience of math research and strategies. Any math anxiety is overcome with confidence in delivering personalized instruction.
Parents become the facilitator by asking probing questions to guide students through their homework instead of showing students how to solve a problem.
Age/grade range:
K–6
Core or supplemental:
InsightMath is a core math curriculum for all learners. It draws on the power of spatial reasoning with visual models and combines that with engaging classroom activities, as students justify and generalize big ideas and move towards using symbolic representation. Additional support is available for math learners below grade level, making it a highly effective tool for accelerating math learning using a neuroscience approach.
Standards:
InsightMath is designed to enhance student math learning. It is aligned to Common Core and other state math standards.
Lesson time needed:
The curriculum offers both lessons that can be used in class and resources that families can use to improve math-based learning opportunities at home. InsightMath lessons encourage collaboration and cooperation and the curriculum is designed to fit into the same time slot of a traditional math lesson.
Additional services:
InsightMath embedded professional learning provides tools, resources, and training that empower teachers to bring out the best in every student.
Parents and families play an important role in helping their child develop creative and rigorous problem-solving skills that support deeper learning. InsightMath will provide resources for parents to use to encourage the child to take mathematical risks, explain reasoning, and incorporate mathematical conversation into daily activities.
What makes InsightMath unique?
InsightMath is the first core math program founded in neuroscience and how the brain learns. It builds on 25 years of math learning research and proven results with ST Math, and was created by a collaboration of neuroscientists, researchers, mathematicians, educators, students and parents.
Built from the ground up during the pandemic, InsightMath is designed to meet the flexible needs of today’s teachers, as well as classrooms of the future. The goal of accelerating learning is not just an add-on; it is embedded into every aspect of the lessons. The core instruction is designed to address the unique needs of all classroom learning using visual learning, critical thinking, and problem-solving.
InsightMath is the first core program that shifts the emphasis from, “How do we teach?” to, “How do kids learn?” That learning happens in the lessons, activities, puzzles, and projects—not in the teacher edition. Learning is built, not transferred, redefining “student agency” through a science-based, problem-solving process.
Here’s what users are saying:
“Got a chance to see the proposed MIND Research Institute core math curriculum. I'm looking forward to the impact it's going to make in teaching math. Nigel Nisbet did a great job of sharing the research and thought process behind the new curriculum. What a great addition to ST Math!”
—William Gideon Jr., Ed.D., assistant superintendent, Los Nietos School District
“Focusing on a right answer tells students that their thinking, their stories, their identities don’t matter—just their ability to memorize or calculate. Shifting to a focus on students’ thinking and strategies has created spaces where all students have equal access and the right to speak, listen, and be heard. InsightMath is going to transform how students are positioned in the classroom, disrupting the labels that have been tattooed on marginalized students in the urban context, and ZOOMing in on the BRILLIANCE.”
—Dr. Tiffany Tynes-Curry, District Math Coach at Columbus City Schools and a member of the InsightMath co-design team
