Improving Undergraduate Mathematics Education with Interleaving

本计画旨在以交错教学法增进学生的微积分学习，以服务国家利益。与通常的一次学习和练习一个主题然后转向下一个主题不同，交错是指将不同主题的学习和练习混合在一起。在中学数学课堂上进行的研究表明，交错法有助于提高学生的学习成绩。然而，目前尚不清楚在大学数学课程中是否可以获得类似的结果。本项目将研究交错法在提高大学生微积分课堂学习效果方面的效果。在进行研究工作的同时，首席研究员将参加一个密集的专业发展计划，以扩展他在数学教育基础理论、定性和定量方法以及教育公平方面的知识和技能。这个项目的目标是确定交错法在多大程度上帮助学生学习微积分。为了回答这个问题，我们将在生命科学微积分课程中创建阻塞和交错的问题集。学生将被分成两组，一组使用交错作业，另一组使用阻塞作业。使用交叉设计，小组将在学期中途从一种作业类型切换到另一种类型。学习成绩将通过临时测试的分数以及期中和期末考试的分数来衡量，并通过与学生的访谈来支持，以确保有效性。这些分数将作为一个整体来分析，也将按人口分组进行分类。这个项目将促进我们对交错法在多大程度上可以帮助学生学习微积分的理解。该项目由美国国家科学基金会EHR STEM教育研究核心研究能力建设项目（ECR: BCSER）支持，该项目旨在培养研究人员开展高质量STEM教育研究的能力。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 serve the national interest by enhancing student learning in calculus with a teaching method called interleaving. Unlike the common practice of studying and practicing one topic at a time and them moving to the next topic, interleaving consists in intermixing the study and practice of different topics together. Research conducted in middle school mathematics classrooms shows evidence that interleaving can help improve student learning. Yet, it is currently unknown if similar results can be obtained in college mathematics courses. This project will study how effective interleaving is at improving student learning in the undergraduate calculus classroom. In parallel to the research component, the principal investigator will take part in an intensive professional development plan to expand his knowledge and skills in fundamental theories in mathematics education, qualitative and quantitative methods, and equity in education.The goal of this project is to determine to what extent interleaving helps students learn calculus. In order to answer this question, blocked and interleaved problem sets will be created for a calculus for life sciences course. Students will be divided into two groups, one using interleaving homework sets and the other one using blocked homework sets. Using a cross-over design, the groups will switch from one type of homework to the other type half-way through the term. Learning will be measured by scores on unannounced tests as well as scores on midterm and final exams, and supported through interviews with students to ensure validity. The scores will be analyzed for the class as a whole and also disaggregated by demographic groups. This project will advance our understanding of the extent to which interleaving can help students learn calculus. The project is supported by NSF's EHR Core Research Building Capacity in STEM Education Research (ECR: BCSER) program, which is designed to build investigators’ capacity to carry out high-quality STEM education research.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.