Structuring Equitable Participation in Undergraduate Mathematics Proof Classes

构建本科数学证明课程的公平参与

• 批准号: 2235649
• 负责人: Kathleen Melhuish
• 金额: $ 60万
• 依托单位: Texas State University - San Marcos
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-01-01 至 2025-12-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2235649&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Structuring; Equitable; Participation; Undergraduate; Mathematics

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving students’ experiences in proof-based mathematics classes. These courses are taken by future high school mathematics teachers and mathematics majors. The unique content and features of proof-based courses have the potential to strengthen conceptual connections for mathematics majors, including connections to K-12 mathematics for prospective secondary teachers. However, these benefits do not always fall equitably to students, and proof-based courses can sometimes serve as a barrier to students’ future STEM careers. This Level II IUSE:EDU Engaged Student Learning track project will facilitate professional development and collaboration with instructors of these courses to design and implement group-work tasks that may support more equitable learning experiences. The innovation of this professional development will lie in adapting and implementing group-work principles from complex instruction, developed at K-12 levels, to the advanced undergraduate level. The project will also investigate how implementing such group work can alleviate inequities in group-work participation. Thus, the significance of this work will include the development of knowledge and concrete instructional strategies that may support transformation of advanced mathematics classes into more inclusive spaces.This project builds on a substantial foundation of research illustrating that complex instruction principles and the incorporation of group-worthy tasks can lead to more equitable participation in mathematics classrooms. Using this research foundation as a catalyst, the project will pursue several goals. The first goal is to design, implement, and study workshops to support instructors of proof-based courses in implementing group-worthy tasks in their courses. A second goal is to build understanding of how design features of group work impact student interactions and can lead to more equitable participation in mathematics classrooms. An additional goal is to disseminate project outcomes and group-work resources at local, regional, and national levels to mathematical sciences departments and other STEM departments working to enhance student learning, success, and equitable classroom participation. Status hierarchies that exist in social settings often shape student collaborative work. That is, the decision to speak up, ask a question, or offer an idea is not necessarily a direct consequence of what the student knows, but often is an interplay with how they perceive their status in the class as well as how they think their instructor and their peers perceive them. The project will focus on tasks that intentionally make use of students’ diverse strengths. By properly developing and implementing these tasks, instructors can help override negative status effects and cultivate positive interdependence among students. While these principles have been well established at K-12 levels, little is known about their potential at the advanced undergraduate level. Through project research and evaluation, the project aims to generate new knowledge to enhance literature and classroom practice related to proof-based courses and equitable group work. Qualitative and quantitative data will be collected from the workshops and subsequent classes, and mixed methods analyses will be conducted to result in a better understanding of how to develop and implement equitable group-worthy tasks and of the overall relationships between tasks, instruction, and group work. In turn, the outcomes will enable the investigators to build theories on how such group work plays out in the advanced mathematics context. By contributing tasks and models for more equitable group work in proof-based classes, the project will serve as a resource for curriculum developers, instructors, and professional communities of practice. Dissemination will be through local, regional, and national outlets and will include workshops, conference presentations, and peer-reviewed publications. The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through its Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.

该项目旨在通过改善学生在基于证明的数学课程中的体验来服务于国家利益。这些课程由未来的高中数学教师和数学专业学习。基于证明的课程的独特内容和特点有可能强化概念。然而，这些好处并不总是公平地惠及学生，而且基于证明的课程有时会成为学生未来 STEM 职业的障碍。 IUSE：EDU 参与学生学习轨道项目将促进专业发展以及与这些课程的教师的合作，以设计和实施可以支持更公平的学习体验的小组工作任务。这种专业发展的创新将在于适应和实施 K 制定的复杂教学中的小组工作原则。 -12 级，到高级本科生水平。该项目还将研究如何实施这种小组工作可以减轻小组工作参与中的不平等。因此，这项工作的意义将包括可以支持转型的知识和具体教学策略的发展。将高级数学课程引入更具包容性的空间。这个项目该项目建立在坚实的研究基础上，表明复杂的教学原则和纳入值得小组的任务可以导致更公平地参与数学课堂。利用这一研究基础作为催化剂，该项目将追求几个目标。设计、实施和学习研讨会，以支持基于证明的课程的教师在课程中实施值得小组完成的任务。第二个目标是加深对小组工作的设计特征如何影响学生互动并导致更公平的参与的理解。数学课堂的另一个目标是在地方、区域和国家层面向数学科学部门和其他 STEM 部门传播项目成果和小组工作资源，致力于提高学生的学习、成功和公平的课堂参与。社会环境中存在的地位层次结构通常会影响学生的协作工作。也就是说，发言、提出问题或提供想法的决定并不一定是学生所知道的直接结果，而往往是他们如何看待自己在课堂上的地位以及他们如何看待自己的行为的相互作用。老师和他们的同伴感知他们。将重点关注有意利用学生不同优势的任务，通过正确地制定和实施这些任务，教师可以帮助克服负面的地位影响并培养学生之间积极的相互依赖。虽然这些原则在 K-12 级别中已经得到了很好的确立。通过项目研究和评估，了解他们在本科阶段的潜力，该项目旨在产生新知识，以增强与基于证明的课程相关的文献和课堂实践，并从公平的小组工作中收集定性和定量数据。研讨会和后续课程以及混合方法分析将旨在更好地理解如何制定和实施公平的小组任务以及任务、指导和小组工作之间的整体关系，反过来，研究结果将使研究人员能够建立关于小组工作如何发挥作用的理论。通过在基于证明的课程中提供更公平的小组作业任务和模型，该项目将作为课程开发人员、教师和专业实践社区的资源。和国家媒体，并将包括研讨会、会议演讲和NSF IUSE：EDU 计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生 STEM 教育的有效性，该计划通过其参与式学生学习轨道，支持有前途的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。