MIND Research Institute (MIND) announced today that the US Patent Office has issued to MIND a patent that covers the core of how ST Math® games function. US Patent No. 10,304,346 protects the system and method for training with virtual manipulatives. It includes the use of spatial-temporal (ST) reasoning to interact with on-screen objects following mathematical rules, informative feedback showing why solutions work or not, difficulty ramps, and error tolerance.
ST Math is a visual instructional program created by MIND that builds deep conceptual understanding of math through rigorous and creative problem solving to engage, motivate, and challenge PreK-8 students toward higher achievement. Longitudinal and broad-based studies across diverse population groups continue to demonstrate ST Math’s efficacy in building lifelong learners prepared for success in STEM fields. ST Math currently reaches more than 1.2 million students and 56,000 teachers at 4,300 schools in 47 states.
"This patent means that our fundamental invention for teaching using virtual manipulatives with instant informative feedback is now recognized and protected,” said Dr. Matthew Peterson, MIND’s Chief Research & Development Officer and Cofounder. “We’ve been pioneering spatial-temporal curricula based on this invention so that all students have a level playing field on their path to becoming creative mathematical problem solvers. With the ST Math program for schools, we’ve leveraged our invention into a proven educational system that allows students to productively engage with challenging math puzzles and develop the mathematical abilities needed for success.”
Mark Bodner, President of MIND’s Research Division and Cofounder, added, “Along with MIND’s other core patents, the virtual manipulatives patent protects a major component of our methodology and represents the recognition of its uniqueness and efficacy. It ensures that MIND, its programs and breakthrough research will continue forward.”
This is the tenth and latest addition to MIND's portfolio of design and utility patents. Those patents cover:
- Creating an ST learning object (patent pending)
- Making that ST learning object into an educational game (this patent)
- Transferring that game into 'language-analytic' learning and measuring that learning and
- Creating a full curriculum program with all the ancillary functions and back-end information required for successful use by schools/districts and more.
“This patent clearly demonstrates and validates the fundamental uniqueness of MIND’s visual instructional design and approach,” said Andrew Coulson, Chief Data Science Officer at MIND. “Evaluating the real-world effectiveness of this approach in schools has been my charge for the last decade, and I can vouch for its robust results across the full range of schools and student subgroups. This approach and its results have garnered the keen interest of many research partners. We are diving deep to evaluate the full range of learning mechanisms that support why it works so broadly.”
The method of training through a visual reasoning environment and game is not limited to mathematics. MIND continues to explore related applications and invent solutions to assist teachers and leverage how children learn best. Ongoing research and development strive to explore and invent similar fundamental breakthroughs. MIND welcomes visionary social impact investors to seed these breakthroughs and elevate the educational market, and visionary ed tech investors to leverage breakthrough results in the market.
About MIND Research Institute
MIND Research Institute is a neuroscience and education social impact organization, dedicated to ensuring that all students are mathematically equipped to solve the world’s most challenging problems. MIND is the creator of ST Math®, a Pre-K-8 visual instructional program that builds a deep conceptual understanding of math through rigorous learning and creative problem solving. MIND has also developed programs under MathMINDs to provide students, teachers and families dynamic ways to actively engage with math, and to close the experience gap for all learners. MathMINDs includes Family Game Nights, the national K-12 Game-a-thon and MathMINDs Games. For more information, visit mindresearch.org.
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