GP-IMPACT: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Integrating Geoscience to Engage Majors with Mathematics: iGEM2

GP-IMPACT：协作研究：整合地球科学以吸引专业人士与数学：iGEM2

• 批准号: 1911454
• 负责人: Theresa Jorgensen
• 金额: $ 25.44万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Arlington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-09-15 至 2023-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1911454&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: GP; IMPACT; COLLABORATIVE; RESEARCH; Integrating; GP; IMPACT; COLLABORATIVE; RESEARCH; Integrating

Part IEntry level math courses in college often form a roadblock for STEM-intended students, particularly when students do not test directly into Calculus when they enter college. This is certainly true at The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), an access-oriented university, and remains a challenge faced by universities across the country. Calculus is the first mathematics course in all natural science degree plans at UTA; however, Algebra or Precalculus are common mathematics entry points for STEM-intended majors especially those who begin their major through nontraditional pathways. In spring of 2018, 48% of all UTA undergraduate students entered UTA as transfer students, and 42% of all UTA undergraduates were first generation students. Given these statistics, and the fact that the proposed work will directly affect ~1000 students per semester at UTA taking College Algebra and Precalculus, this project will have an enormous impact on a diverse population of at-risk students who aspire to graduate with a STEM degree, but are also largely unaware of opportunities in the geosciences. We will recast College Algebra concepts in the context of societally relevant Earth Science themes without changing the content of the current course. In this way, we will empower beginning STEM students by placing abstract mathematical concepts in a scientific context at a critical transition which constitutes statistically a major stumbling block for many of STEM-intended majors. This is a new strategic partnership, as the geosciences incorporate research methods from across all of STEM and are therefore likely to be relatable to a broad range of STEM-intended students. At the same time, it will expose students early in their college experience to geoscience as a potential major or career. Success of the project will be determined by monitoring D-F-W rates of this course, evaluate students' perceptions of the geosciences and confidence in mathematics, and tracking students through declaration of their major and beyond. We will test the transferability of this model by implementing it in the Precalculus course at UTA during the second year of this continuing project and using the College Algebra redesign in the equivalent course at Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, Texas to gauge its effectiveness and transferability across institutions.Part IIAt The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), mathematics courses leading to Calculus constitute a major obstruction to success for alarming numbers of STEM-intended majors. This fact reflects a challenge faced by universities across the country. Our goals are to (1) improve success of intended STEM majors at UTA in mathematics courses that lead to Calculus, courses taken primarily by STEM-intended majors, but yielding D-F-Withdraw rates 60%, and (2) introduce first and second year students to the geosciences and related career pathways before they decide on a major, thereby increasing the number and diversity of students who choose to major in the geosciences. We will do this by first modifying College Algebra by integrating geoscience concepts into the mathematics curriculum and lab components, reaching approximately 1,000 students per semester at UTA. Video presentations featuring current research of faculty, students, and geoscientists in industry and related fields will motivate a societally relevant Earth Science theme and delineate how a particular algebraic skill is essential for his/her research or job. Concepts introduced in these videos will be developed and incorporated into homework assignments, challenge problems, and lab exercises involving problem-solving activities that synthesize mathematical concepts and apply the concepts to problems related to the Earth Science theme. In this way, the mathematical abstraction will be connected with geoscience content crossing the fields of geophysics, environmental geochemistry, hydrogeology and oceanography. This is a strategic partnership, as the geosciences incorporate research methods from across all of STEM and are therefore likely to be relatable to a broad range of STEM-intended students. This collaboration will empower beginning STEM students by placing abstract mathematical concepts in a scientific context at a critical transition, which constitutes statistically a major stumbling block for many STEM-intended majors. At the same time, it will expose students early in their college experience to geoscience as a potential major or career. This project is possible by building upon a new partnership between the School of Earth Science at The Ohio State University and Mathematics at UTA. Success of the project will be determined by monitoring D-F-W rates of this course, evaluate students' perceptions of the geosciences and confidence in mathematics, and tracking students through declaration of their major and beyond. We will test the transferability of this model by implementing it in the Precalculus course at UTA during the second year of this continuing project and using the College Algebra redesign in the equivalent course at Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, Texas to gauge its effectiveness and transferability across institutions.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

大学中的一部分数学课程通常会为STEM感知到的学生形成障碍，尤其是当学生进入大学时未直接测试微积分时。在以访问为导向的大学阿灵顿大学（UTA）的德克萨斯大学，这确实是如此，并且仍然是全国大学面临的挑战。微积分是UTA所有自然科学学位计划中的第一门数学课程；但是，代数或预钙是STEM杰出专业的常见数学入口点，尤其是那些通过非传统途径开始大专业的人。 2018年春季，所有UTA本科生中有48％以转学学生的身份进入UTA，而所有UTA本科生中有42％是第一代学生。鉴于这些统计数据，以及拟议的工作将直接影响每学期约1000名学生在UTA上占据了大学代数和预钙库，因此该项目将对渴望毕业的杰出毕业，但在很大程度上没有意识到Geisciences的机会毕业，这将对多样化的高风险学生产生巨大影响。我们将在与社会相关的地球科学主题的背景下重新铸造代数概念，而不会改变当前课程的内容。通过这种方式，我们将通过将抽象的数学概念放在科学环境中的临界过渡中来赋予Stem学生的能力，这在统计学上构成了许多STEM-特殊专业的主要绊脚石。这是一种新的战略伙伴关系，因为地球科学纳入了整个STEM的研究方法，因此很可能与广泛的STEM意义上的学生有关。同时，它将在大学期间早期将学生视为潜在的主要或职业。该项目的成功将通过监视本课程的D-F-W速率，评估学生对地球科学和对数学的信心的看法，以及通过宣布其专业及以后来跟踪学生。 We will test the transferability of this model by implementing it in the Precalculus course at UTA during the second year of this continuing project and using the College Algebra redesign in the equivalent course at Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, Texas to gauge its effectiveness and transferability across institutions.Part IIAt The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), mathematics courses leading to Calculus constitute a major obstruction to success for alarming numbers茎的专业。这一事实反映了全国大学面临的挑战。我们的目标是（1）在数学课程中提高UTA预期的STEM大满贯的成功，这些课程导致了微积分，主要由STEM感知专业的专业学习，但屈服于60％的D-F-With Draws率，以及（2）将一年级和第二年的学生介绍给Geosciences及其相关的职业途径，然后才能确定专业，从而增加学生的数字和多样性的学生，以增加数量和多样性的学生。我们将首先通过将地球科学概念整合到数学课程和实验室组件中，每学期在UTA大约1,000名学生来实现这一目标。视频演示文稿以工业及相关领域的教师，学生和地球科学家的当前研究为特色，将激发与社会相关的地球科学主题，并描述特定代数技能对于他/她的研究或工作至关重要。这些视频中引入的概念将被开发并纳入家庭作业，挑战问题以及涉及解决问题的活动的实验室练习中，这些活动综合了数学概念，并将这些概念应用于与地球科学主题相关的问题。以这种方式，数学抽象将与地球物理学，环境地球化学，水文地质学和海洋学领域的地球科学内容有关。这是一种战略合作伙伴关系，因为地球科学结合了整个STEM的研究方法，因此很可能与广泛的STEM意义上的学生有关。这项合作将通过将抽象的数学概念放在科学环境中的临界过渡中，从而赋予Stem学生的能力，这在统计学上构成了许多STEM型专业的主要绊脚石。同时，它将在大学期间早期将学生视为潜在的主要或职业。通过建立俄亥俄州立大学地球科学学院与UTA数学之间的新合作伙伴关系，可以通过建立这个项目。该项目的成功将通过监视本课程的D-F-W速率，评估学生对地球科学和对数学的信心的看法，以及通过宣布其专业及以后来跟踪学生。我们将通过在该持续项目的第二年在UTA的Precalculus课程中实施该模型的可转移性，并利用德克萨斯州沃思堡Tarrant County College的等效课程中的大学代数进行重新设计，以评估其在机构之间的有效性和转移性。这些奖项通过NSF的法规及其授权的授权依据，以表现出众多奖项。 标准。