Collaborative Research: Directed Reading Program Network

该项目将创建一个定向阅读计划网络(DRPN)，以(A)调查广泛的和不断增长的近同行数学指导计划对教育和社会的影响，以及(B)支持现有计划之间的交流和最佳做法。由该项目的两名高级人员于2003年在芝加哥大学发起的定向阅读计划(DRP)现在至少在14所学院和大学运行，并计划在至少4个以上的校园开设。DRP是由研究生在教师监督下在当地运营的，他们将研究生导师与本科生导师配对，共同开展数学阅读项目。以前，DRP的运行没有跨站点的集中规划或数据收集，该项目的主要成果之一是通过有意记录DRPN成员机构所做的工作来纠正这一疏忽。该项目计划弥补错失的学习机会，这些学生在专业发展的关键时刻参加DRP，而不会阻碍该计划的基层和以学生为导向的设计。该项目的教育研究部分将由加州大学伯克利分校的社会心理学家Ozlem Ayduk进行，他是STEM领域关于拒绝敏感性、身份形成和导师-被辅导者关系的主要社会心理学研究人员之一。此外，该项目还将资助2018年初在麻省理工学院举办的研讨会，该研讨会将使当前和计划中的DRP能够讨论利用这些计划扩大STEM参与的最佳实践。最后，一个规模不大但至关重要的“种子基金”将为少数几个精选的新项目提供助力，以便在几个竞争激烈的DRPN成员机构实施研讨会提出的想法。

This project will create a Directed Reading Program Network (DRPN) to (a) investigate the educational and social impacts of a widespread and growing near-peer mathematics mentoring program, and (b) support communication and best practices among already-existing programs. Initiated at the University of Chicago in 2003 by two of this project's senior personnel, Directed Reading Programs (DRPs) now run at no fewer than fourteen colleges and universities, with plans to open on at least four more campuses. DRPs are run locally by graduate students under faculty oversight, pairing graduate student mentors with undergraduate mentees to work on mathematics reading projects. Previously DRPs have been run with no centralized planning or data collection across sites, and one of the chief outcomes of this project is to rectify this oversight by intentionally documenting the work done at DRPN member institutions. The project plans to remedy the missed opportunity to study mathematics students who participate in DRPs at a key juncture in their professional development without impeding the grassroots and student-driven design of the program. The educational research component of this project will be conducted by social psychologist Ozlem Ayduk of University of California at Berkeley, who is one of the premier social psychology researchers on rejection sensitivity, identity-formation, and mentor-mentee relationships in STEM fields. In addition, the project will fund a workshop at MIT in early 2018 which will enable current and planned DRPs to discuss best practices for using these programs to broaden STEM participation. Finally, a small but crucial "seed fund" will offer a boost to a selected handful of new programs to implement ideas from the workshop at a few competitively selected DRPN member institutions.