By Jennifer Kiilerich
More than 60 percent of American students aged 12-18 are interested in a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, according to a 2023 Walton Family Foundation survey. On the road to a life in STEM, proficiency in high school math has been identified by researchers as a key steppingstone. Yet, with many educators facing limitations on time and resources, only 37 percent of K-12 teachers surveyed felt they were adequately preparing learners for a high-tech future. And the most recent results from the Program for International Student Assessment, an international benchmark test, showed that American students continue to lag behind global counterparts in math.
But what if there was a low-cost, non-time-intensive approach that would help teachers meaningfully improve the quality of math instruction? Kelley Durkin, research assistant professor of teaching and learning at Vanderbilt Peabody College, is proposing a new spin on a tried-and-true tool-exit tickets-to do just that. With funding from a National Science Foundation grant, awarded in 2024, she and her team are building upon exit tickets to incorporate metacognitive thinking into lessons, an approach they think will improve math skills.
Cristina Zepeda, assistant professor of psychology and human development, Bethany Rittle-Johnson, professor of psychology and human development and the Anita S. and Antonio M. Gotto Chair in Child Development, and Jon Star from the Harvard Graduate School of Education are co-collaborators on the three-year research project, "Leveraging Exit Tickets to Enhance Students' Self-Regulated Learning and Mathematics Knowledge."
An earlier study conducted by Zepeda found that metacognitive know-how translates to improved self-regulated learning and a leap in subject-matter knowledge. Metacognition is essentially the awareness of our own learning. For example, most of us, when faced with a failure, reflect on what went wrong, adjust our thinking and planning, and do better next time. This self-reflection makes it easier to move forward from missteps, an important skillset as students enter advanced math and science courses where failure is often an inevitable part of the learning process.
To find out if enhanced exit tickets that encourage metacognition contribute to higher confidence and self-awareness, in turn boosting math performance, the team will work with at least 680 high school freshmen in Integrated Math I. "During our pilot, teachers have been enthusiastic about the insights they are getting into their students," said Durkin.
"The exciting thing about this project," she added, "is that hopefully many teachers will be able to use these enhanced exit tickets if they have positive effects because it's not a big ask on their instructional time. It integrates into an existing practice."
Why exit tickets
Exit tickets are a common strategy used by teachers to seek feedback about whether students absorb material or what they think about lessons, usually in the form of a question given at the end of class. "It's really a tool for the teachers," said Durkin. "But we were thinking there may be a missed opportunity to use exit tickets as a leverage point for helping student learning, too."
The team will flip the exit ticket model on its head, asking learners to evaluate themselves rather than their lessons. Questions might ask, "How confident was I about my answer, and did my confidence match my results?" Or, "What can I do before the next math lesson to be better prepared?"
Math matters
Metacognitive thinking can be especially impactful in STEM courses. "With math, the material is constantly building on itself," Durkin said. "The earlier we can ensure students grasp each step of the process, the better." In other words, if students are learning in a self-aware way, they are more likely to realize-and act-if there is something they don't understand.
Research indicates that in middle to early high school-aged students, math motivation can dip. At the same time, metacognitive abilities are increasing, making the ninth-grade participants an ideal focus group. As students enter high school, they also face higher expectations, and coursework begins to move faster. A key result the team hopes to see from enhanced exit tickets is improved self-regulated learning, which includes having right-level confidence and the ability to independently evaluate whether their answers and strategies make sense. This aptitude could be impactful in overcoming the academic challenges of math, high school in general, and life beyond secondary school (including in future STEM programs).
Real-world impacts
If the study goes as anticipated, the findings can be shared with practitioners, administrators and even digital learning creators to make these exit ticket enhancements widely accessible. "If you make something that's amazing, but no one can use it," said Durkin, "that's not helpful. This is relatively easy to implement, and we really hope it's also sustainable for teachers." In addition, the model could be transferable to a variety of ages and ability levels.
Proficiency in high-school level math is critical for high school graduation, entry into postsecondary education and eventually completing a STEM degree. Advancing the quality of math instruction with this user-friendly method could have wide-reaching implications not only for students, but also for a society that relies increasingly on the skills of STEM-educated adults.
