GP-IMPACT: COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH: Integrating Geoscience to Engage Majors with Mathematics: iGEM2

GP-IMPACT：协作研究：整合地球科学以吸引专业人士与数学：iGEM2

• 批准号: 1911454
• 负责人: Theresa Jorgensen
• 金额: $ 25.44万
• 依托单位: University of Texas at Arlington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-09-15 至 2023-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1911454&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: GP; IMPACT; COLLABORATIVE; RESEARCH; Integrating

Part IEntry level math courses in college often form a roadblock for STEM-intended students, particularly when students do not test directly into Calculus when they enter college. This is certainly true at The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), an access-oriented university, and remains a challenge faced by universities across the country. Calculus is the first mathematics course in all natural science degree plans at UTA; however, Algebra or Precalculus are common mathematics entry points for STEM-intended majors especially those who begin their major through nontraditional pathways. In spring of 2018, 48% of all UTA undergraduate students entered UTA as transfer students, and 42% of all UTA undergraduates were first generation students. Given these statistics, and the fact that the proposed work will directly affect ~1000 students per semester at UTA taking College Algebra and Precalculus, this project will have an enormous impact on a diverse population of at-risk students who aspire to graduate with a STEM degree, but are also largely unaware of opportunities in the geosciences. We will recast College Algebra concepts in the context of societally relevant Earth Science themes without changing the content of the current course. In this way, we will empower beginning STEM students by placing abstract mathematical concepts in a scientific context at a critical transition which constitutes statistically a major stumbling block for many of STEM-intended majors. This is a new strategic partnership, as the geosciences incorporate research methods from across all of STEM and are therefore likely to be relatable to a broad range of STEM-intended students. At the same time, it will expose students early in their college experience to geoscience as a potential major or career. Success of the project will be determined by monitoring D-F-W rates of this course, evaluate students' perceptions of the geosciences and confidence in mathematics, and tracking students through declaration of their major and beyond. We will test the transferability of this model by implementing it in the Precalculus course at UTA during the second year of this continuing project and using the College Algebra redesign in the equivalent course at Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, Texas to gauge its effectiveness and transferability across institutions.Part IIAt The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA), mathematics courses leading to Calculus constitute a major obstruction to success for alarming numbers of STEM-intended majors. This fact reflects a challenge faced by universities across the country. Our goals are to (1) improve success of intended STEM majors at UTA in mathematics courses that lead to Calculus, courses taken primarily by STEM-intended majors, but yielding D-F-Withdraw rates 60%, and (2) introduce first and second year students to the geosciences and related career pathways before they decide on a major, thereby increasing the number and diversity of students who choose to major in the geosciences. We will do this by first modifying College Algebra by integrating geoscience concepts into the mathematics curriculum and lab components, reaching approximately 1,000 students per semester at UTA. Video presentations featuring current research of faculty, students, and geoscientists in industry and related fields will motivate a societally relevant Earth Science theme and delineate how a particular algebraic skill is essential for his/her research or job. Concepts introduced in these videos will be developed and incorporated into homework assignments, challenge problems, and lab exercises involving problem-solving activities that synthesize mathematical concepts and apply the concepts to problems related to the Earth Science theme. In this way, the mathematical abstraction will be connected with geoscience content crossing the fields of geophysics, environmental geochemistry, hydrogeology and oceanography. This is a strategic partnership, as the geosciences incorporate research methods from across all of STEM and are therefore likely to be relatable to a broad range of STEM-intended students. This collaboration will empower beginning STEM students by placing abstract mathematical concepts in a scientific context at a critical transition, which constitutes statistically a major stumbling block for many STEM-intended majors. At the same time, it will expose students early in their college experience to geoscience as a potential major or career. This project is possible by building upon a new partnership between the School of Earth Science at The Ohio State University and Mathematics at UTA. Success of the project will be determined by monitoring D-F-W rates of this course, evaluate students' perceptions of the geosciences and confidence in mathematics, and tracking students through declaration of their major and beyond. We will test the transferability of this model by implementing it in the Precalculus course at UTA during the second year of this continuing project and using the College Algebra redesign in the equivalent course at Tarrant County College in Fort Worth, Texas to gauge its effectiveness and transferability across institutions.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.

大学入门水平的数学课程经常成为STEM目标学生的障碍，特别是当学生进入大学时不直接测试微积分的时候。这在德克萨斯大学阿灵顿分校(UTA)确实是如此，这是一所以访问为导向的大学，仍然是全国各地大学面临的挑战。微积分是UTA所有自然科学学位计划中的第一门数学课程；然而，对于STEM专业的学生，特别是那些通过非传统途径开始专业的人来说，代数或预微积分是常见的数学入门课程。2018年春季，48%的UTA本科生作为转校生进入UTA，42%的UTA本科生是第一代学生。鉴于这些统计数据，以及拟议的工作将直接影响到UTA大学代数和预微积分课程每学期约1000名学生的事实，该项目将对各种高危学生群体产生巨大影响，这些学生渴望获得STEM学位，但也在很大程度上没有意识到地球科学的机会。我们将在与社会相关的地球科学主题的背景下重塑大学代数的概念，而不改变当前课程的内容。通过这种方式，我们将通过将抽象数学概念置于科学背景下的关键过渡来增强STEM初学者的能力，从统计上讲，这是许多STEM专业的主要绊脚石。这是一种新的战略伙伴关系，因为地球科学结合了整个STEM的研究方法，因此很可能与针对STEM的广泛学生有关。与此同时，它将使学生在大学早期体验到地球科学作为一个潜在的专业或职业。该项目的成功将取决于监测这门课程的D-F-W比率，评估学生对地球科学的认知和对数学的信心，并通过申报他们的专业和更高的专业来跟踪学生。我们将通过在这个持续项目的第二年在UTA的微积分基础课程中实施该模型来测试该模型的可移植性，并在德克萨斯州沃斯堡的塔兰特县学院的同等课程中使用大学代数重新设计来衡量其有效性和跨机构迁移。在德克萨斯大学阿灵顿分校(UTA)，导致微积分的数学课程构成了STEM专业数量惊人的成功的主要障碍。这一事实反映了全国大学面临的挑战。我们的目标是(1)提高UTA意向的STEM专业学生在数学课程中的成功率，这些课程主要由STEM专业的学生主修，但D-F退学率为60%，(2)在一年级和二年级学生决定选择专业之前，向他们介绍地球科学和相关的职业道路，从而增加选择地球科学专业的学生的数量和多样性。为此，我们将首先修改大学代数，将地球科学的概念整合到数学课程和实验部分中，每学期接触到UTA约1,000名学生。以工业和相关领域的教职员工、学生和地球科学家的最新研究为特色的视频演示将激发与社会相关的地球科学主题，并描绘特定的代数技能如何对他/她的研究或工作至关重要。这些视频中介绍的概念将被开发并合并到家庭作业、挑战问题和实验室练习中，这些练习涉及综合数学概念并将概念应用于与地球科学主题相关的问题的解决问题的活动。通过这种方式，数学抽象将与地球物理、环境地球化学、水文地质学和海洋学等领域的地学内容联系起来。这是一种战略伙伴关系，因为地球科学结合了整个STEM的研究方法，因此很可能与面向STEM的广泛学生有关。这种合作将通过将抽象数学概念置于关键过渡的科学背景中来增强STEM初学者的能力，这在统计上构成了许多STEM专业的主要绊脚石。与此同时，它将使学生在大学早期体验到地球科学作为一个潜在的专业或职业。这个项目是建立在俄亥俄州立大学地球科学学院和UTA数学学院之间的新伙伴关系的基础上的。该项目的成功将取决于监测这门课程的D-F-W比率，评估学生对地球科学的认知和对数学的信心，并通过申报他们的专业和更高的专业来跟踪学生。我们将通过在这个持续项目的第二年在UTA的微积分预科课程中实施该模型，并在德克萨斯州沃斯堡的塔兰特县学院的同等课程中使用大学代数重新设计来测试该模型的可转移性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Highlighting altruism in geoscience careers aligns with diverse US student ideals better than emphasizing working outdoors

强调地球科学职业中的利他主义比强调户外工作更符合美国学生的多元化理想

• DOI: 10.1038/s43247-021-00287-4
• 发表时间: 2021
• 期刊: Communications Earth & Environment
• 影响因子: 7.9
• 作者: Carter, Samantha C.;Griffith, Elizabeth M.;Jorgensen, Theresa A.;Coifman, Karin G.;Griffith, W. Ashley
• 通讯作者: Griffith, W. Ashley