EAGER: Exploring Mathematics Graduate Teaching Assistants' Developmental Stages for Teaching

数学在科学，技术，工程和数学（STEM）学科中发挥着核心作用，学生在本科数学课程中的成功是满足国家准备和维持具有全球竞争力的STEM劳动力的关键因素。然而，数学课程往往会阻碍学生在STEM领域获得学位。为了解决这个全国性的问题，本项目将集中在一项研究，探讨本科数学教育中的两个关键问题：（1）未来的数学教师如何准备教学和（2）在本科课堂数学教学的格式。这两个问题是直接相关的。未来的数学教师如何准备教数学是本科课堂数学教学质量和风格的决定因素。不幸的是，这种教学往往不会对本科生产生积极的影响。数学研究生助教（MGTA）经常接受最低限度的培训，为数学教学的职业生涯，因此，他们的教学实践仍然植根于以讲座为基础的教学。以讲座为基础的数学教学在本科数学已被证明不是最好的教学形式为大多数学生，这表明有研究为基础的专业发展计划的MGTA的迫切需要。然而，很少有研究调查MGTA在研究生课程的不同点的专业发展需求。这项研究将填补这一空白的研究，以下MGTA，因为他们通过他们的研究生课程的进展。研究结果将产生新的知识，告知全国各地的STEM部门如何更好地为本科生教学做好准备，这反过来又将导致更好地准备美国STEM劳动力。该项目的一个基本目标是创建一个MGTA的发展阶段模型，用于研究人员和从业人员能够使用该模型设计有效的，长期的专业发展计划，这将导致数学教学，提高学生在本科数学课程的成果。为了调查MGTA的教学发展阶段，将创建调查和访谈协议，以捕捉知识，信念，数学观点和教学的任何变化。调查将有开放式的问题，探讨MGTA对教学和学习数学的想法，以及是什么影响了他们对教学的看法。其他项目将解决他们的认识信念和自我效能。面试过程将提供他们的教学实践，他们最近的教学经验，他们是否觉得他们正在接受足够的支持，以及他们认为他们需要什么其他支持更深入的了解。MGTA将在研究生课程期间接受调查和采访，以确定他们对教学的看法和教学支持需求的任何变化。他们对调查和访谈问题的回答将使用演绎主题分析的阶段进行分析。本研究的一个长期目标是利用这些新知识，设计一个基于研究的，脚手架的培训计划模式，将参加数学研究生的教学和教学思想的发展所经历的阶段。

Mathematics plays a central role in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines, and student success in undergraduate mathematics courses is a crucial ingredient in meeting the Nation's need to prepare and sustain a globally competitive STEM workforce. However, mathematics courses often create barriers to student progress in obtaining degrees in STEM areas. To address this national problem, this project will focus on a research study to explore two critical issues in undergraduate mathematics education: (1) how future mathematics faculty members are prepared for teaching and (2) the format of mathematics teaching in undergraduate classrooms. These two issues are directly related to one another. How future mathematics faculty are prepared to teach mathematics is a determining factor in the quality and style of mathematics teaching in undergraduate classrooms. Unfortunately, all too often, this teaching does not have a positive impact on undergraduate students. Mathematics graduate teaching assistants (MGTAs) often receive minimal training for a career of teaching mathematics and, as a result, their teaching practices remain rooted in lecture-based instruction. Lecture-based mathematics teaching in undergraduate mathematics has been shown not to be the best form of instruction for the majority of students, indicating that there is critical need for research-based professional development programs for MGTAs. Yet, few studies have investigated MGTA needs for professional development at different points in their graduate programs. This study will fill this gap in the research by following MGTAs as they progress through their graduate programs. The findings will generate new knowledge to inform STEM departments across the country how to better prepare graduate students for teaching undergraduates, which, in turn, will lead to a better prepared United States STEM workforce.A fundamental goal of the project is to create a model of MGTAs' developmental stages for teaching that researchers and practitioners will be able to use to design effective, long-term professional development programs that will result in mathematics instruction that improves student outcomes in undergraduate mathematics courses. To investigate MGTAs' developmental stages for teaching, surveys and interview protocols will be created to capture any changes in knowledge, beliefs, views of mathematics, and teaching. The surveys will have open-ended questions that inquire into MGTAs' thoughts about teaching and learning mathematics and what influences the way they think about teaching. Other items will address their epistemic beliefs and self-efficacy. An interview process will provide a deeper view of their teaching practices, their most recent teaching experiences, whether they feel that they are receiving adequate support, and what other support they feel they need. MGTAs will be surveyed and interviewed for the duration of their graduate programs to determine any changes to their views of teaching and their need of support for teaching. Their responses to the survey and interview questions will be analyzed using the stages of deductive thematic analysis. A long-term goal of this study is to use this new knowledge to design a research-based, scaffolded training program model that will attend to the stages mathematics graduate students go through as their teaching and thoughts about teaching evolve.