Tangible Interfaces for Collaborative Learning Environments (TICLE) provides children with new ways of learning with the aid of a computer. As children work in small groups on physical (tangible) puzzles, the TICLE system "watches" and responds (as needed) with encouragement, suggestions, and hints. A prototype TICLE system, using a Tangram puzzle, has been installed at the Goudreau Museum of Mathematics in Art and Science and the San Antonio Children's Museum.

The women working on this CREW project are extending the TICLE effort, creating more mathematical puzzles with greater learning potential. Three students are researching tools for learning math, with a focus on math manipulatives, used in primary and middle school education. With the aid of their instructor, each student will adapt one mathematical learning activity to the TICLE platform. These puzzles will then be tested with children from local schools.