MATH: EAGER Building a mathematical toolkit and motivation for success in the physical and quantitative sciences

数学：渴望建立数学工具包以及在物理和定量科学领域取得成功的动力

• 批准号: 1544225
• 负责人: Jill Sible
• 金额: $ 29.7万
• 依托单位: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-09-01 至 2019-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1544225&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MATH; EAGER; Building; mathematical; toolkit

This project targets the mathematics preparation gap which often contributes to the low success rate in introductory STEM courses. The Virginia Tech Quantitative Tools Working Group (QTWG) project will bring together teams of faculty and students who will work collaboratively to develop effective learning activities to help students retain and apply critical math skills for their STEM majors. The QTWG project will address the mathematics preparation gap by synthesizing the work of three innovative STEM programs that share the goal of improving success and retention in undergraduate STEM majors: 1) an NSF STEP Summer Bridge Program targeting underrepresented physical and quantitative science majors; 2) an Integrated Science Curriculum (ISC) where undergraduates learn foundational science and mathematics through an interdisciplinary problem-based curriculum, and 3) a Physics First-Year Experience (FYE) that helps freshmen hone problem-solving skills. All three programs target students who enter their majors with significant motivation and mathematics preparation, but nonetheless demonstrate low success in foundational STEM courses, particularly mathematics. The QTWG will: 1) build a quantitative tool kit (QToolkit) filled with effective learning activities mapped to particular mathematical skills, 2) identify and empirically validate pedagogical approaches that promote retention and motivation in the physical and quantitative sciences, and 3) develop strategies that equip STEM faculty to lead curricular reform. The QTWG project will generate a rich data set regarding the effectiveness of teaching mathematical skills through application. Investigators will catalog which math skills are most problematic for physical and quantitative science majors, map the learning of these skills across the three programs, and identify the effectiveness of learning strategies addressing these skills. This work will be grounded in the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (CBAM) theory-of-change and employ a "faculty work as learning" framework to build buy-in by individual faculty members. It holds the potential to identify activities that empower faculty members and students to become agents of curricular change while improving the mathematical skills of STEM undergraduates.

该项目针对的是数学准备差距，这往往是导致STEM入门课程成功率较低的原因。弗吉尼亚理工大学量化工具工作组(QTWG)项目将把教师和学生团队聚集在一起，他们将合作开发有效的学习活动，帮助学生保留和应用STEM专业的关键数学技能。QTWG项目将通过综合三个创新的STEM项目的工作来解决数学准备差距，这三个项目的目标都是提高本科STEM专业的成功和留存：1)NSF Step夏季桥梁计划，针对未被充分代表的物理和定量科学专业；2)综合科学课程(ISC)，本科生通过基于问题的跨学科课程学习基础科学和数学；以及3)物理一年级体验(FYE)，帮助大学一年级学生磨练解决问题的技能。这三个项目的目标都是那些在进入自己的专业时有很强的学习动机和数学准备的学生，但他们在STEM基础课程，尤其是数学方面的成绩却很低。QTWG将：1)建立一个量化工具包(QToolkit)，其中充满了与特定数学技能相对应的有效学习活动；2)确定并实证验证促进物理和定量科学中保持和动机的教学方法；3)制定战略，使STEM教师能够领导课程改革。QTWG项目将生成关于通过应用程序教授数学技能的有效性的丰富数据集。调查人员将列出物理和定量科学专业的学生最有问题的数学技能，绘制出这些技能在三个项目中的学习情况，并确定解决这些技能的学习策略的有效性。这项工作将以基于关注的采用模型(CBAM)的变革理论为基础，并采用“教员工作即学习”的框架来建立个别教员的认同。它有可能确定一些活动，使教职员工和学生成为课程改革的推动者，同时提高STEM本科生的数学技能。