For NMSU's Karen Trujillo, video games and computer animations add up to success.

For 20 years, Karen Trujillo worked in education as a school principal, teacher, math and technology specialist, and professional development provider. Today, her passion is giving her the opportunity to look at education from a different angle.

Trujillo, a post-doctoral researcher at the College of Education and a program manager of the Math Snacks project, is one of 10 recipients of the 2011 Community for Advancing Discovery Research in Education Fellowship. This recognition is for Trujillo’s work in the Math Snacks project, where video games and computer animation are incorporated into math education.

As part of the Math Snacks project, Trujillo is part of the team that develops two-to three-minute animations and computer games to help middle school students understand math concepts. Trujillo and her colleagues also are doing a pilot study where they observe nine teachers and more than 600 students in Las Cruces and Gadsden schools, testing out the Math Snacks products to see how students respond to them. The pilot study is helping the team prepare for a large-scale experimental study that will take place next year throughout the country.

“Nowadays, kids are very technology-oriented. They grow up that way,” Trujillo said. “The animations give children a new way of looking at things, and the fun and appealing images help the concepts stick in their minds.”

The CADRE Fellowship program is funded by the National Science Foundation and supports researchers and developers who participate in Discovery Research K-12 projects on teaching and learning in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines.

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