Grants:Project/Eventmath/Timeline

This project is funded by a Project Grant

proposal

timeline & progress

June

Created Project Management Document
1. We chose to use a Google Doc to organize tasks and keep records, since Google Docs is free, it’s easy to use, and it integrates with other collaborative software we need (e.g. spreadsheets and cloud storage software).
2. We divided up the grant activities into discrete tasks and listed them by approximate start date in an Activities Schedule within the Google Doc. To ensure we can easily see and rearrange tasks, we designed the list so that each entry fits on one line and includes a task description, as well as color-coded tags for the task owner, the completion status, and the deadline. Using the bookmarks feature, we linked these entries to more complete descriptions in a separate section of the document.
3. We included an Activities Log. Once a task is completed, we log it in a table organized by month and by theme (as outlined in Project Plan: Activities in the grant proposal). This way, we are able to coordinate our ongoing activities while simultaneously preparing the monthly report.
4. We created a Timesheet using Google Sheets and linked to it from the project management document. This sheet has a row for each activity theme, and a set of columns for each grantee: estimated total hours, actual hours spent, and hours remaining. We populated it with an initial allocation of budgeted hours, according to our individual skill sets, and we programmed it to calculate hours remaining automatically.
Developed Contact List
1. We designed a Google Sheet with separate tabs for individuals, organizations, events, and press outlets to organize and track our outreach efforts; we then linked to this contact list from our main project management document.
2. We extended the list of potential contacts that we provided in the proposal.
Earned Exciting Speaking Slot!
1. We applied to give a 15-minute talk at the upcoming MAA MathFest conference, August 4-7 (online), and we are very excited to say that we were accepted! We will be presenting in the contributed paper session “Insights into Quantitative Literacy and Reasoning from the COVID-19 Pandemic.” This session is sponsored by a special interest group of the Mathematical Association of America that consists of dedicated math educators who are specifically interested in finding new ways to teach quantitative literacy.
2. We titled our presentation “Eventmath: An Open-access, Community-built Repository Pairing Current Events and Math Lessons”.
Published Portal on Wikiversity
1. We created an initial skeleton of the Eventmath portal. As this is a work in progress, it is subject to change, and we may move the portal into the main namespace.
2. We planned a new tabbed interface, similar to that of Wikipedia’s WikiProject Mathematics, with the following tabs: Intro, Entries, Guidelines, Assessment, Tasks, Research, References, Contributors, and Discussion. If we opt to switch to this new information architecture, each tab will be a separate page with its own URL; in our case, we expect separate URLs would improve the experience for users who find Eventmath through a web search.

July

Prepared MathFest Talk
1. We chose to use Google Slides since they are free to use; they can be easily published to the web; they support real-time, remote collaboration; and they integrate with the other collaborative software tools we’re using from Google Workspace.
2. We designed the talk around the following questions:
  1. Why is teaching numeracy challenging?
  2. What resources address these challenges?
  3. What value does Eventmath add?
  4. What value can you add?
3. We used principles from marketing, cognitive load theory, and the cognitive theory of multimedia learning. We’ll share a few of these principles here, in case it helps others who are planning a similar presentation.
  1. We used high-contrast colors and large font sizes to improve legibility.
  2. We included images and kept textual cues very brief in order to prevent the redundancy effect.
  3. We eliminated information that we did not plan to speak about directly, and we used animated transitions to introduce new points incrementally, in order to mitigate the split-attention effect.
  4. We placed labels as close to the objects being labeled as possible, according to the spatial contiguity principle.
  5. We learned as much as we could about the organization that hosted the talk, and we were able to address their specific concerns with a slide addressing goals from their organizational charter.
  6. We provided a single, clear call to action at the end of the talk, and this call to action was motivated by all the previous content. Specifically, we directed interested attendees to fill out an online form during the last several minutes of our talk. Since the talk was given virtually, an online form was the ideal way to build up the Eventmath community: everyone in attendance was already interacting with us through a web browser, so we only needed to share a link in the text chat area of the conference software.
4. We published the slides in presentation mode (this allows a viewer to advance through the animations and slides using the arrow keys on a keyboard), as well as a PDF version of the slides without animations.
Created Online Contributor Form
1. We took advantage of the simplicity of Google Forms and kept our form as brief as possible, to reduce any friction that potential respondents might experience.
2. We linked the Google Form to a spreadsheet containing our existing contact list, so that submissions would be automatically recorded there, which frees up time from our budget.
3. We informed respondents that we’ll use the provided email addresses to keep them updated on Eventmath. Once we have an on-wiki mailing list set up, we will invite them to join that list.
Promoted and Delivered MathFest Talk
1. We promoted our MathFest talk on Twitter (for example, in this tweet) and shared the slides (in this tweet) after giving the talk.
2. We received Google Form submissions from twelve educators at twelve different academic institutions across the US, from California to New York!
Collected Data from Form Respondents
1. We are excited to report that 100% of respondents would like to use Eventmath lessons, and two out of three would like to contribute to lessons!
2. Here is the percentage of respondents who would like to...
  1. contribute whole lessons or improve existing lessons: 67%.
  2. use Eventmath lessons in the classroom: 100%.
  3. add lesson feedback or endorsements based on classroom experience: 67%.
  4. assess lesson quality (peer review): 42%.
  5. update lesson guidelines based on education research: 8%.
  6. help with educator outreach: 8%.
3. Note: One respondent selected “Other” and indicated they are interested in every type of contribution, but not until 2022. All data above have been adjusted so that this respondent’s interest in each type of contribution is counted.
Crafted Outreach Message
1. Following our talk, we were asked to share our Google Form with the mailing lists for two important organizations identified in our proposal: the National Numeracy Network and the SIGMAA (special interest group of the Mathematical Association of America) for Quantitative Literacy.
2. Since these groups belong to our exact target audience, we carefully crafted an outreach message to send them. We will post this message to the mailing lists at a suitable time, in order to maximize engagement.

August

Sent Outreach Messages to Relevant Organizations

We shared the outreach message described in our July report with the user forum of the SIGMAA-QL (Mathematical Association of America - Special Interest Group in Quantitative Literacy).

In addition to the twelve new community members who filled out our Google Form after our MathFest talk, six more educators filled it out after posting to the SIGMAA-QL.
The eighteen new community members come from eighteen different academic institutions, and we continue to have 100% of respondents interested in using Eventmath lessons in the classroom. (The form shows seventeen out of eighteen would use the lessons, but this is due to a data anomaly described in our July report.)

Brendan joined the National Numeracy Network and is awaiting further details from one of their officers about contacting their mailing list.

Started New Portal in Main Wikiversity Namespace

Following guidance by our Wikiversity advisors (Guy_vandegrift and Dave_Braunschweig), we decided to create an Eventmath page in the main Wikiversity namespace. This will give the site a shorter, more human-friendly URL with the keyword “Eventmath” appearing closer to the beginning, all of which should increase the likelihood of users finding the page.
We created a tabbed interface for this new portal, roughly following the interface of Wikipedia:WikiProject Mathematics.
We developed a template for Eventmath tabs and transcluded it into the tabbed pages, so that changing the tab design across all tabbed pages only requires a single change in the template.

Researched Design Guidelines and Crafted New Site Structure

We adjusted tab design according to best practices for tabbed interfaces, e.g. as described by the Nielsen Norman Group.

We were careful to avoid using too many tabs.
We arranged the tabs in a logical order, prioritizing tabs aimed at new participants.
We chose concise, descriptive labels that were as inclusive as possible (for example, instead of a “Contributors” tab, we have a “Participants” tab).
We regrouped content to make it easier for visitors to find what they care about (for example, we replaced “References” and “Research” with “Resources” and “Impact”).

We included brief descriptions of the content that will appear under each tab.
We began developing the aesthetic aspects of our design, but these are not yet fully implemented.

Reached Out to Advisors to Set Up First Meeting

We contacted our advisors on Wikiversity to set up a meeting, now that we’re developing the main Wikiversity content. We will discuss such issues as the use of subpages for pages in the main namespace.
We decided that we will include meeting minutes in our monthly reports, subject to permission from our advisors to report on their guidance.

Engaged with Our Target Audience on Twitter

We published a thread about Eventmath updates.
We followed up with a potential contributor.
We shared news suitable for an Eventmath entry, and learned a valuable lesson: always remember to include the #Eventmath hashtag!

September

Promoted to Organizations and on Social Media
1. Brendan joined the National Numeracy Network. They have helpful resources and events about quantitative literacy.
2. Through their mailing list, we shared an outreach message (the same as we shared previously with the MAA Special Interest Group on Quantitative Literacy) and this resulted in five new form sign-ups.
3. Greg shared about Eventmath on Twitter.
Discussed Ideas with Wikiversity Advisors
1. We changed the mode of communication from synchronous video calls to asynchronous written discussion on the Eventmath discussion tab, at the suggestion of our Wikiversity advisors. As a result, no meeting minutes are posted here.
2. Our Wikiversity advisors both commented on the colors of the tab labels; however, custom colors are not currently supported through any parameters in the template we’re using. We discussed the issue, and it remains a work in progress. Solving this will allow us to have accessible color contrast while maintaining a consistent aesthetic design so that visitors know they’re in the correct place.
3. Discussion with our advisors also led one of the advisors to fill out our Google Form for notifications about upcoming workshops, for a total of six new form sign-ups this month (including the five from the National Numeracy Network).
Improved Site Design
1. We discussed and improved the information architecture. This included combining the Guidelines and Assessment tabs, as well as the Tasks and Resources tabs. Fewer tabs should reduce cognitive load and result in a better user experience.
2. We developed a more descriptive label and page title (and therefore URL) for the tab containing the lesson plan directory. We expect the new title (“Lesson plans” instead of “Entries”) will help new users find our content through search engines and will help them find what they’re looking for once they visit (both of which are part of our portal goal).
3. We decided to rename the Guidelines page. It is now the Contributing page. We feel this is an important change, as the new name is not only more accurate, but also more welcoming. Since the page title shows as a tab label in the main navigation, it also serves as a prominent cue to new visitors that Evenmath is a living resource, always open to new contributions.
4. We successfully moved/renamed the Guidelines page to become the Contributing page. We used this Wikimedia Help page to learn how to do this and now understand the process, which will be helpful in the future as we and other users contribute new pages.
5. We switched headings and tab labels from title case to sentence case, to be consistent with the capitalization conventions used for page titles.
6. We performed mobile device testing of the new tabbed interface.
7. We decided we would like to do user testing during the workshops to assess our design choices.
Adapted Materials to Wikiversity
1. We developed the Participants tab, based on the Community Members section of the original Eventmath template. In adapting that material, we refined the suggested information and added a section about Wikiversity user pages.
2. We developed, published, and revised our tips for good lesson plan titles. Since this guidance leads contributors through the crucial first step of creating a new page, it’s arguably the most important copy on all of Eventmath! Moreover, since the title goes into the URL, it cannot be changed later without moving the page. So, we were careful to make the guidance as clear and simple as possible.
3. We added more information for users about required and optional content for lesson plans, and other general guidelines. Along with the section on naming lesson plans, this forms the core set of instructions new users will follow as they create content for the site. We will keep the new-user experience in mind as we refine these guidelines.
Made Plans for Future Site Improvements
1. We found code needed to implement a search box and determined how to restrict search to lesson plans by letting them be subpages of the Lesson plans tab, which is also helpful for SEO.
2. We learned about template development in general, which will help with various aspects of site development.
3. We studied the InputBox extension, which will allow us to create custom search boxes and page creation boxes. The page creation boxes will make creating a lesson plan with preloaded sections and markup as easy as clicking a button.
4. We began designing the user workflow as part of the Contributing page, so that we can test it by publishing our existing example lesson plans according to that same workflow.

October

SEO and Engagement with Wikiversity
1. Greg found an SEO extension that will help us optimize our snippets in search results and possibly affect the appearance of Eventmath pages shared on Twitter. We voted in favor of installing this extension on Wikiversity.
Creating a Lesson Plan Template
1. We had extensive discussions about the creation of a lesson plan template that users will call upon when they make contributions to the site. We reviewed our existing lesson plans in the original Eventmath template and identified important elements that constitute good lesson plans and that users should be encouraged to provide.
2. We realized the need for a create page box that users will encounter on the Contributing page. We read documentation from Wikimedia about creating pages with preloaded text and agreed that this is how users will contribute lesson plans.
3. After discussion with Greg, Brendan began work on that preloaded text for a lesson plan template.
Continued Improvement of Site
1. Along with the work on a lesson plan template, we have continually revised the Contributing page and the instructions for users found there. We revised the language to be user-focused, easy to follow, and welcoming, especially because we want users to encounter this page and be inspired to contribute to the site.
2. We are working on revising and formatting the existing lesson plans in our original Eventmath template so that we can test the user workflow, as well.
3. Brendan compiled an annotated list of sources for lesson plan ideas in a Google sheet. We intend to incorporate this into the Contributing tab.

November

Continued Work on Lesson Plan Template
1. We met to discuss the initial draft of the lesson plan template. We compared it to the guidelines and example lesson plans from our original off-wiki Eventmath template, and we thought carefully about the workflow a user will follow and what their experience will be like.
2. Based on these discussions, we modified the outline of this lesson plan template and improved the instructions for users. Throughout, we strove to make instructions clear and succinct for new users.
3. We also refined the look of the lesson plan template for a consistent user experience across the site.
4. We also created an Eventmath draft header template. Greg set it up so that including the header will automatically categorize a lesson plan featuring the header as a draft. This will allow us to list all draft lesson plans on the Lesson plans tab easily.
Continued Improvement of Site
1. Based on work described above for the lesson plan template, we correspondingly modified the Contributing tab on the site. We refined the information and instructions provided, keeping in mind a new user who wants a quick but informative description of how to contribute to the site.
2. We updated the instructions about searching for existing lesson plan titles and creating a new page, based on what we learned about search boxes and templates for creating a new page. Specifically, we added a search box for users to look for similar lesson plan titles, and we will add a separate create page box later.
3. We had meetings to discuss the general layout of the Welcome, Contributing, Lesson Plans, and Tasks tabs of the site. This is ongoing work that will evolve as we make decisions about the user workflow and test it out.
Gathering Resources
1. We are maintaining a list of possible resources for articles and posts. In particular, Brendan has been saving examples of interesting articles/posts and helpful sources of such articles, in general, based on his classroom experiences.
2. These resources help us add more exemplary lesson plans for users to follow as guidelines when creating their own. They will also be helpful when we deliver live workshops to new users later on.
3. We have plans to share a subset of these resources on the Contributing or Tasks tab on the site for users to see.

December

Continued Work on Contributing Tab
1. Revised some language and structure of the Contributing tab to make instructions clearer for users. (For instance: changed "Create your lesson plan page" to "Start the lesson plan".)
2. Added an input box for users to create a new lesson plan page. We tested what this would look like and opted to direct users to the source editor.
3. Created a "New lesson plan intro" box that automatically loads above the source editor and has helpful info for users who are creating a new lesson plan.
4. Added a "Share and collaborate" section with suggestions for users to share their lesson plan, including a link to Twitter with a relevant hashtag (#Eventmath) which will help users see others sharing their work.
Continued Work on Lesson Plan Template
1. Revised the Lesson plan draft header so it now includes a link to an Editing FAQ for anyone new to MediaWiki software.
2. Created a "Feedback" section (instead of "Endorsements") that will help users and visitors understand how and where to leave feedback on a lesson plan.
3. After much discussion, decided to reorganize some sections and create a "Lesson plan overview" summary box. This will help visitors see important information about a lesson plan right at the top of the page, while also clearly separating meta content from the lesson plan itself. The changes are as follows:
  1. "Assumed knowledge" is now a field in the overview box.
  2. "Instructions" is now “"Activities"; instructor notes are merged here.
  3. There's now a separate "Assignments" section.
  4. "Suggested Content" is now "Resources," the subsection "Assumed knowledge" is now "Background", and the subsection "Resources" is now "Explorations."
4. Regarding that "lesson plan overview box," we chose an existing meta template (Infobox) but still need to develop the box template based on that meta template.
5. We decided that italicized instructions in the preloaded wikitext for a new lesson plan should be deleted once a section is filled in, so we added a comment in the wikitext directing contributors to do this. Other instructions are included as comments to make editing less intimidating for new editors.
Continued Work on Welcome and Lesson Plans Tabs
1. Added suggested resources to the "Find a news article or social media post" section of the Lesson plans tab so users have a few direct news sources to consult for ideas.
2. Greg did research on how to organize the Lesson plans tab and allow users to search and/or sort lesson plans by topic in a convenient and manageable way.
  1. Found an extension called DynamicPageList for automatically populating the Lesson plans tab with links to lesson plans in different categories.
  2. Made a wireframe and a mockup informed by directory design and UX guidance.
  3. Opted for a modern, accessible CSS grid layout. This is planned and will need to be tested to make sure it works as intended.
3. Revised some language and information on the Welcome tab. For instance, that page now indicates that workshop dates will be announced there in the future.

January

Usability features
1. Greg created a hierarchy of category pages and worked on technical aspects of the categories that will be used to sort lesson plans. For example, this makes it possible to automatically display lesson plans that pertain to a particular math subject, and only those that are ready for classroom use. It also makes it possible for users to sort lesson plans by teaching vitals, like class time. These usability features are necessary for achieving our portal goal.
2. Greg designed the draft header template to work in conjunction with a draft category. This allows incomplete lesson plans to be automatically listed by category on the Tasks tab. This is essential for the sustainability of Eventmath maintenance, and it encourages the completion of lesson plans.
3. Based on this work, we updated the instructions for users in the preloaded wikitext of the lesson plan template.
4. Greg implemented buttons to make it simple for users to provide crucial feedback. This is especially important since our target community consists of educators who may be unfamiliar with the editing process.
  1. He created an Endorse button that will automatically appear on new lesson plan pages (he chose an approach using the InputBox extension, since adapting the Endorse button gadget used by grant projects would require special administration privileges). He created an endorsement instructions page that will automatically load above the editor to help a new user who just clicked the button, as well as an endorsement template that preloads in the editor.
  2. He also made a Join button on the Participants tab, using a custom template that preloads in the editor, along with a custom instructions page that loads above the editor with a gentle explanation of how to use it. This required technical workarounds, including a subpage of the Participants tab to contain the list entries, a transclusion of the subpage into the main Participants page, and a purge link on the Participants page for forcing updates.
5. Greg archived a test video from YouTube at https://archive.org/web/ to check if users would be able to reliably use videos as a source for lesson plans. Despite the conflicting information he found, the test succeeded, and the archived test video was playable by the next day.
6. He tested the lesson plan template for different screen sizes.
7. He added a redirect to the original Eventmath portal (this was in the Portal namespace and did not use the current tabbed interface) to reduce confusion.
Template development
1. Greg made a display box template for the Lesson plans tab, based on an existing template, and included documentation for the adapted version. This template is general enough to be used by other projects.
2. He also made an Eventmath templates category and categorized the Eventmath templates we’ve made so far, so that we can easily find them all in one place.
3. Greg built a lesson plan overview template (including testing, bug fixes, documentation, and categorization). This template provides essential features for both visitors and contributors. He nested the overview template inside the lesson plan template, included inline usage instructions, and adjusted the layout to accommodate the overview box. Details are described in the linked documentation.
Lesson plan directory
1. Based on a wireframe and mockup, Greg published the skeleton of the Lesson plans page, where users will find lesson plans for use in the classroom.
2. He added a search box to the Lesson plans page.
3. He added display boxes and grouped them by math type, event type, and teaching vitals. Each box displays a relevant selection of lesson plans from a specific category.
4. He set up a modern, accessible CSS grid layout for the display boxes.
5. He added links to more complete listings, in a consistent location within the display box headers, by customizing the display box template.
6. He added code to dynamically list pages in each display box.
7. He added a display box with tips for educators who are following the contributor workflow. This includes a purge link created with the Purge template, in case a contributor just added a draft lesson plan and doesn’t see it listed.
Proposal to a national conference
1. Together, we wrote a proposal for an interactive session (“facilitated discussion”) at the National Numeracy Network’s upcoming annual meeting. This is a national conference devoted to quantitative literacy serving our exact target audience: mathematics educators who are interested in teaching quantitative reasoning and information/media literacy.
2. We applied for a 1-hour facilitated discussion, instead of a 30-minute paper presentation, so that we can demonstrate the features of the site and accept questions and feedback from the audience.
3. This event offers an ideal way to reach our campaign targets. Since we know the attendees are inclined to attend live presentations, we will invite them to attend our proposed workshops. There, they will contribute their own lesson plans, which will be essential for making Eventmath sustainable.
Workshop preparation
1. We designed a spreadsheet that organizes materials for the workshops. This is also part of our work for the presentation to the National Numeracy Network.
2. We populated the spreadsheet with news articles and social media posts that could be turned into lesson plans. Among other uses, these will serve as backups in case a workshop attendee is not prepared with a source.
Midpoint report: We drafted the midpoint report with both the grants committee and future grantees in mind. In particular, Greg designed a learning pattern about template development to help future grantees make the most of their time.

February

Improvements to site design
1. Greg performed accessibility testing at https://wave.webaim.org/. He changed the color of advisory text on the Contributing page, since it was flagged as low contrast.
2. He also fixed the accessibility issue with the labels of the tabbed portal interface. Previously, the labels and backgrounds were both dark blue, but now, there is a sufficient amount of contrast between labels and their backgrounds. Fundamentally, this was fairly simple, but it required adding features to multiple templates.
3. After adding and documenting the new features, Greg described the technical implementation to the original developers, in case it would benefit other projects.
4. He also used the new features to improve the quality of Eventmath's interface design, by removing automatically applied text decoration.
Improvements to site features
1. Greg fixed bugs related to lesson plan endorsements, which he discovered during testing.
  1. He fixed a bug in the lesson plan endorsement template related to the signature and timestamp, and revised the template’s documentation to explain how it works.
  2. He also fixed a bug in the lesson plan template that caused the endorsements to be placed outside the main content area. This required revisions to both the lesson plan template and the lesson plan endorsement template.
2. He also fixed an issue on the Lesson plans page. Category pages for subcategories of the lesson plans category were being listed as if they were lesson plans themselves; setting an extra parameter prevented this from happening.
3. After discussing how educators will want to sort and search lesson plans, and how best to encourage a self-sustaining community, Greg implemented some ideas:
  1. He created six new subcategories of the “Eventmath lesson plans by class time” category. Subcategories are used instead of sort keys because sort keys are invisible to the user. Along with this, he modified code in the lesson plan overview template so that it automatically places lesson plans in these new categories, based on user input; this prevents users from having to enter information multiple times, and it reduces the chance of errors.
  2. He created category pages for twelve subcategories of the “Eventmath lesson plans by source date” category, and figured out how to make this sustainable. We’ll add a yearly task to the Tasks tab to add twelve new categories each year, one for each month. He also added string processing code to the lesson plan overview template, so that it pulls a YYYY-MM date (for categorization) from the YYYY-MM-DD entered by user (displayed in overview box).
  3. He filled the Tasks tab with a directory of drafts so that contributors can find drafts that need to be expanded or improved. This was accomplished by adapting the source of the Lesson plans page.
Example lesson plans and workflow testing
1. After those improvements to the site described above, we were ready to publish the first lesson plan! Brendan adapted an example lesson plan about the Electoral College from our original Eventmath Google Doc and published it on the site.
2. In the process of doing so, Brendan tested the workflow that a new contributor will follow. This included assessing the lesson plan template from the point of view of a user with limited wikitext experience.
3. This was also an occasion for testing the categories of lesson plans and the sorting mechanisms on the Lesson plans and Tasks tabs. The new lesson plan correctly appeared on the Tasks tab because it is in "Draft status." Specifically, it appears under the Politics (event type) and Arithmetic (math type) category boxes.
Presentation at a national conference
1. We prioritized the work described above so that we could have a demonstrable product for our presentation at the National Numeracy Network (NNN)’s annual meeting in March 2022. Specifically, we hosted a “facilitated discussion” at the conference, a 55-minute presentation with at least half of the time devoted to an interactive demonstration with the audience.
2. In preparation for the event, we updated and improved our slides from the MathFest conference presentation in August 2021. We were able to reuse much of the content about the motivation and goals for the site, and we added several slides about the design and implementation of the site.
3. While preparing for the interactive part of the presentation, Brendan found an example of a social media post that could be turned into a short lesson plan. He chose this example because the lesson plan would be based on a single Tweet and would only require simple arithmetic; so, audience members would likely have ideas to share right away.
4. During and after the event, we engaged with participants by answering questions and sharing the online survey form that we designed for the previous talk. This resulted in at least 3 more form signups, as well as a meeting with leadership of the National Numeracy Network.
Promotion on social media and with organizations
1. Brendan promoted the NNN presentation on Twitter, including a link to the community form, as a reminder that all are welcome to attend the future workshops.
2. Brendan created a shortened, human-readable URL for the Eventmath form: bit.ly/JoinEventmath. This allows for easy sharing and accessibility, and we displayed it prominently on the ending slide of our presentation.
3. During our meeting with leadership of the National Numeracy Network, we proposed a promotion strategy in line with our original grant proposal. We will report more details when the strategy materializes.
4. We established a contact that brought up the idea of hosting workshops with specific interested groups (all the educators in a university’s quantitative skills center, for instance); we'll consider this when planning workshops and promotion.

March

Improvements to site design
1. Greg added guidance on the Lesson Plans page to improve searching and browsing:
  1. He created a table with examples of common searches, featuring syntax for the Cirrus search extension in one column and an explanation in another column. He also styled the table to make it easy to read.
  2. He restructured the source-date category so that it’s possible to easily search by month, as well as all months from a particular year.
2. Greg fixed an issue with the source-date display box on the Lesson Plans page.
  1. He used the #time parser function so that the category pages for the most recent three months will always be displayed.
  2. The “More…” link now goes to a category page with all lesson plans by source date, organized by year and month.
3. After a conversation with the National Numeracy Network, we developed an idea to address the needs of quantitative-literacy educators:
  1. We’ll create a top-level section on the lesson plans page, titled “Quantitative literacy roundup.”
  2. In that section, we will gather all the lesson plans that foster quantitative literacy and numeracy skills.
  3. To implement the roundup, each lesson plan will be categorized by quantitative-literacy status.
4. Greg improved the Electoral College lesson plan, which will serve as a model for new contributors.
  1. He created the Discuss page and added a proposal for a new essay prompt. This demonstrates how to use the Discuss page.
  2. He added images throughout the lesson plan, to make it more attractive and easier to scan.
  3. He fixed a broken link and reformatted a section to make it easier to read.
Meta-work
1. Greg submitted a proposal to Wikiversity to turn on syntax highlighting by default, which would help contributors navigate the Eventmath lesson plan template. (For example, this will ensure that inline instructions will appear in a consistent color, making them easy to identify.)
2. Greg proposed an idea for future co-stewardship of Eventmath, in response to a message on the Wikiversity Colloquium regarding the new Leadership Development Working Group.
3. Greg continued to work on the learning pattern: Doing more, with templates: A tutorial for Wikimedia project creators. This page shares time-saving lessons about template development.
Promotion via websites, social media, and organizations
1. Greg and Brendan both added links to the Eventmath site, which helped us move closer to the search rank target set in the grant proposal.
  1. Brendan’s personal GitHub site now features information and links about Eventmath, and his Wikimedia user page now links to the Eventmath site.
  2. Greg’s Wikimedia user page now links to the Eventmath site, as well. He added a section about Eventmath on his website highermathhelp.com with a link; however, he encountered a technical issue and has not yet been able to publish the new section.
2. The Eventmath site now appears in search results for our key search phrase, instead of the grant proposal, which is what we want.
3. The Eventmath site also appears now on the first page of Google results for our target search phrase, which is a key output from the grant proposal!
4. We promoted Eventmath on Twitter and in conversation, leading to four new form submissions, for a total of 31 responses. Here are two examples:
  1. Brendan promoted and linked to Eventmath materials in the middle of a popular thread about teaching mathematics.
  2. Greg posted a thread for an online scavenger hunt to generate interest, and to assist with gathering backup sources for the workshops.
5. Greg introduced Eventmath to the owner of a mailing list for a group of math and statistics educators based in Canada. (The group reached out to the National Numeracy Network, of which Brendan and Greg are both now members.)
Preparation for workshops
1. Brendan and Greg continued compiling backup sources for workshop attendees, per the grant proposal. Each source is an open-access news article, social media post, radio clip, or video clip.
2. We’ve been organizing these in a spreadsheet that we created previously, with columns for the following metadata:
  1. Source Title
  2. Source Name (NPR, Twitter, etc.)
  3. Source Date
  4. Source Link
  5. Math Type
  6. Event Type
  7. Lesson Plan Title
  8. Status [1 = assigned to editor, 0 = available to choose]
  9. Notes
3. We have twenty sources in this spreadsheet so far, selected according to several criteria:
  1. We chose sources that were simple enough to be understood quickly, in case workshop attendees are not prepared with their own sources.
  2. We chose diverse sources, spanning seven of the “math types” from the lesson plans directory, and eight of the “event types.”
  3. We chose examples that will be useful to organizations we identified in the grant proposal, such as journalism schools.

Extension and new reporting method

Please note that this grant has been extended until October 31, 2022. The grant reporting process has also changed. In place of additional monthly updates, please see our midpoint and final reports. The final report will be completed by November 30, 2022.

Is your final report due but you need more time?