Regional Professional Development for VITAL Faculty

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The Mathematical Association of America will build on two already successful professional development programs to offer training to an important group of mathematics faculty including visiting faculty, instructors, teaching assistants, adjuncts, and lecturers (VITAL for short). Many, if not most students in two- and four-year colleges are taught by faculty that fit into these categories and it is imperative that these faculty are provided opportunities to learn about the evidenced-based instructional strategies that have been found to be most effective in undergraduate STEM Education. With this award, the MAA will offer a two-day conference in Texas through the Dana Center to help participants select and adapt methods from the variety of interactive teaching methods known to be effective for mathematics teaching practice. Because the conference is local and only two days, faculty in these VITAL categories (who are often subject to time and resource constraints) will have the opportunity to participate. The conference will be followed by an online learning community to support the VITAL faculty as they implement the new strategies and improve undergraduate STEM Education. The goal of the project is to bring professional development and effective follow-up support to the participants, all of whom are from the geographical region of Dallas-Fort Worth, fostering a desire within the participants to learn about research-based teaching strategies and explore and implement active learning strategies in their classrooms. During the conference, the professional development leaders will provide research-based active learning strategies and model active teaching strategies through interactive sessions. Additionally, participation in the professional development workshop will promote the formation of a supportive cohort by including some unstructured networking time and housing all participants together for one night. Finally, after the workshop, the leaders of the project will provide ongoing support as participants encounter teaching challenges, by partnering with local coordinators who will manage continuing communication among the participants. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students.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.