Improving Undergraduate Mathematics Education with Interleaving

通过交错改进本科数学教育

• 批准号: 2225258
• 负责人: Steve Bennoun
• 金额: $ 34.99万
• 依托单位: University of California-Los Angeles
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-11-01 至 2025-10-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2225258&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Improving; Undergraduate; Mathematics; Education; Interleaving

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.

该项目旨在通过一种称为交错的教学方法来提高学生在微积分方面的学习，从而为国家利益服务。与一次学习和练习一个主题并移动到下一个主题的常见做法不同，交错包括将不同主题的学习和实践混合在一起。在中学数学课堂上进行的研究表明，交错可以帮助提高学生的学习。然而，目前还不知道是否可以在大学数学课程中获得类似的结果。这个项目将研究如何有效的交错是在提高学生的学习在本科微积分课堂。在研究部分的同时，首席研究员将参加一个密集的专业发展计划，以扩大他在数学教育的基础理论，定性和定量方法，以及教育公平方面的知识和技能。该项目的目标是确定交错在多大程度上帮助学生学习微积分。为了回答这个问题，将为生命科学课程的微积分创建分块和交错的问题集。学生将被分为两组，一组使用交叉作业，另一组使用封闭作业。使用交叉设计，小组将在学期中途从一种类型的家庭作业切换到另一种类型的家庭作业。学习将通过突击考试的成绩以及期中和期末考试的成绩来衡量，并通过与学生的面谈来确保有效性。将对整个班级的分数进行分析，并按人口统计组进行分类。这个项目将推进我们的理解，在何种程度上交错可以帮助学生学习微积分。该项目由NSF的EHR Core Research Building Capacity in STEM Education Research（ECR：BCSER）项目提供支持，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NSF的法定使命，通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。