---
title: AI Analysis of Classroom Teaching Aims to Boost Math Learning
date: 2025-03-03T05:30:00-05:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/umd-researchers-to-build-ai-database-to-improve-math-learning-outcomes"
section: Articles
---
# AI Analysis of Classroom Teaching Aims to Boost Math Learning

*March 3, 2025* — by [Aleena Haroon M.P.P. ’25](/author/aleena-haroon-m-p-p-25)


> UMD Researchers' Database Project Funded by $4.5M Philanthropic Grant

*Adobe Stock 515055141 1920x1080 — A UMD-led multidisciplinary team is developing a large-scale, open-source dataset for AI model training tools focused on K–12 math education that aims to increase accuracy and representation in educational AI systems.*

A University of Maryland-led team has received a $4.5 million grant from the Gates Foundation/Walton Family Foundation to improve artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool to strengthen math instruction and boost learning.

The researchers will develop a large-scale, open-source dataset for AI model training tools focused on K–12 math education, sourced over the next three years from classroom recordings of 300 instructors around the country who teach fourth to eighth graders.

Jing Liu, an assistant professor of education policy in UMD’s [College of Education](https://education.umd.edu/) who is the lead principal investigator on the project, said the team aims to cover school districts from many different localities and that serve students from different socioeconomic backgrounds.

“We already know that accuracy and representativeness are critical issues in AI systems,” he said. “For this project, we want to capture a range of students to make it as representative as possible—including students with different learning needs and language backgrounds to ensure our dataset is robust and broadly applicable.”

According to the [National Assessment of Educational Progress](https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reports/mathematics/2024/g4_8/?grade=8), the score gap in mathematics between the highest- and lowest-performing students in eighth grade has widened by 7 points in 2024 compared to 2019. The researchers say the gap was likely exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.


*Researchers standing by a screen with information about human coaching — From left: Jing Liu (lead-PI, College of Education), Wei Ai (co-PI, College of Information and UMIACS), and Ph.D. students Meiyu Li (information studies), and Paiheng Xu (computer science) discuss the use of AI to advance math education for fourth through eighth graders.*




**Topics:** [Research](https://today.umd.edu/tags/research)


**Tags:** [Artificial Intelligence](https://today.umd.edu/topic/artificial-intelligence), [Mathematics](https://today.umd.edu/topic/mathematics), [Research Impact](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research-impact), [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research)


**Units:** [College of Education](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-education), [University of Maryland Institute for Advanced Computer Studies](https://today.umd.edu/topic/university-of-maryland-institute-for-advanced-computer-studies)