Determining the Characteristics of Equitable Mathematics Programs

本项目旨在了解如何开发公平的数学课程，使所有学生都能在数学中建立归属感，并认同自己是一个会做数学的人。现在许多大学数学课程都采用主动学习和探究式学习的方法。然而，这些课程中的一些学生并没有以积极的方式看待他们的经历。例如，有证据表明，许多女性和有色人种学生发现自己在这类课程中的经历被边缘化了。他们可能会认为这门课程比白人男性同龄人更不积极、更不包容。为了理解这种差异，该项目将确定四个大学数学系，其中教学改革努力改善了数学领域中代表性不足的群体成员的学生的经验和坚持。该项目将检查这些部门正在发生的事情，这一过程将包括对每个部门一位成功讲师的深入研究。这项研究的结果有可能为如何提供公平的本科数学教学提供重要的新知识。采用案例研究的方法，该项目将研究四个系的结构和社区特征，其中包括马里兰大学和德克萨斯大学格兰德谷分校。该项目将确定这些部门的特征，以捕捉正在发生有意义变化的背景。该项目还将确定支持学生坚持数学的条件和经验，因为他们在这些数学社区的经历，而不是尽管他们在这些数学社区的经历。教师的信念和教学实践，支持公平的数学教学将通过访谈和观察进行调查。这项为期两年的研究结果将在强调本科数学教育的全国会议和同行评议的学术出版物上广泛传播。本项目由美国国家科学基金会改善本科STEM教育计划：教育与人力资源项目支持，该项目支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过参与学生学习轨道，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to understand how to develop equitable mathematics courses in which all students can develop a sense of belonging in mathematics and identify as a person who can do mathematics. Many college mathematics courses now use active learning and inquiry-based learning approaches. However, some students in these courses do not perceive their experiences in positive ways. For example, evidence suggests that many women and students of color find their experience in such courses to be marginalizing. They may consider the course to be less positive and less inclusive than their white male peers. To understand this difference, the project will identify four university mathematics departments within which instructional change efforts have improved the experiences and persistence of students who are members of groups that are underrepresented in the mathematics fields. The project will examine what is happening in these departments, a process that will include an in-depth look at one successful instructor in each department. Results of this research have the potential to provide important new knowledge about how to deliver equitable undergraduate mathematics instruction. Using a case study approach, the project will study structures and community characteristics in four departments, which will include the University of Maryland and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The project will identify characteristics of these departments to capture the context in which meaningful change is taking place. The project will also identify conditions and experiences that support students to persist in mathematics because of, not in spite of, their experiences in these mathematics communities. Instructors' beliefs and instructional practices that support equitable mathematics instruction will be investigated through interviews and observations. Results from this two-year study will be disseminated widely at national meetings that emphasize undergraduate mathematics education and in peer-reviewed scholarly publications. This project is supported by the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program: Education and Human Resources, which supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.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.