Collaborative Research: Mathematics Graduate Teaching Assistant Professional Development Focused on Implementation of Evidence-based Teaching Practices

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This project aims to serve the national interest by preparing mathematics graduate teaching assistants (MGTAs) to implement teaching practices designed to improve the success of students in undergraduate mathematics courses. To this end, the project will provide MGTAs with a multi-year professional development program to help them implement evidence based teaching practices, including active learning. The professional development program will include an intensive teaching seminar and two courses focused on active learning and inclusive teaching. This approach, which provides MGTAs with extended professional development over multiple years, contrasts with the conventional practice of providing MGTA training only in their first year of graduate school. To help develop their leadership skills, experienced MGTAs will have the opportunity to serve as teaching mentors for newer peers. Over the five-year span of the project, more than 35,000 undergraduates will be taught by MGTAs who have received this multi-year professional development. It is expected that thousands more students will be served in the years that follow, as many of the MGTAs move into academic careers. The project will be implemented at Oregon State University, Virginia Commonwealth University, and San Diego State University. As a result, the project will have multiple contexts for examining the impact of the professional development on MGTA teaching attitudes and practices, as well as on the success of the undergraduates in the MGTAs’ classes. The project will compare outcomes at the three institutions to generate new knowledge about MGTA professional development, to explore what works in which contexts, and to develop an explicit theory of change related to MGTAs’ teaching practices. The goal of this project is to equip MGTAs with evidence-based teaching practices, such as the use of multiple representations, small group management, and reflective teaching, through a professional development program built on findings from research about both undergraduate mathematics education and MGTA professional development. The project will study the efficacy of this approach through data collected from surveys, classroom observations, and interviews with MGTAs, their students, and faculty in the impacted departments. These data will enable the project team to explore changes in MGTAs’ teaching practices and their commitment to evidence-based teaching practices, to understand how undergraduate students experience the participating MGTA’s classrooms, and to examine if and how the professional development program becomes formalized and sustained within the departments. Using individual and organizational theories of change, this project will generate new knowledge about whether, how, and why the professional development program results in instructional change. This work will include determining individual factors that impact MGTAs as they transform their teaching and exploring departmental and institutional characteristics that inhibit or support sustainable change. A multi-level mixed methods analysis of data from multiple institutions will allow for rich comparisons to inform MGTA professional development more broadly. This project was supported by the NSF IUSE:EHR and IUSE:HSI programs. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program supports efforts to transform and improve STEM education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities. The IUSE: Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program (HSI Program) aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs.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.