Adapting Problem-Solving Cycles in Professional Development with Foundational Mathematics Course Coordinators: A Potential Gateway for Instructional Change

本科数学课程是几乎所有STEM专业的必修课，因为科学、技术和工程都是建立在数学基础上的。因此，有效的本科数学教学打开了这些领域的大门，使学生有可能在科学和技术领域继续学习。不幸的是，学生通常将基础数学课程中低效或缺乏启发性的课堂教学作为其学位进步的突出障碍，因此可能会阻碍他们攻读STEM学位。人们早就知道，使用以学生为中心的教学方法(例如，减少授课时间和增加使用主动学习策略)可以提高学生的学习结果和在数学课程中的坚持性。然而，由于本科基础数学课程的讲师往往缺乏主动学习策略的背景或培训，因此迫切需要为数学教师提供专业发展，以改善这些课程的教学实践。这个项目的目标是发展PI在教师专业发展(PD)设计方面的专业知识；创建、迭代地实施和检查PD循环如何影响基础数学教师的教学实践和观点；并为支持基础数学课程中有意义的教学变革的理论做出贡献。通过支持教学变革，该项目将对本科生STEM教育产生广泛影响，包括：改善对参加基础数学课程的学生的指导，从而积极影响STEM专业的坚持性和对STEM劳动力的参与度；开发可用于支持其他本科STEM领域的教学变革和PD的基础设施和模型。为了向理论提供有关教职员工PD中支持教学变革的关键组成部分和因素的理论，该项目计划与基础数学课程协调者在围绕主动学习策略的实践社区中设计、分析和优化PD循环。在预先存在的、每两周举行一次的基础数学委员会会议上，PI将与其数学系的所有基础数学课程协调员一起促进PD机会。PD将包括迭代问题解决周期(其中每个周期是围绕丰富的数学任务组织的一系列相互关联的会议，使教师能够分享共同的学习、规划和教学经验)，以及实践社区方法和核心反思实践，以开发与课程协调员和课程协调员的支持系统。通过采用这种以设计为基础的研究方法(即设计、实地测试、分析和改进)，参与协调员、PI和研究团队成员将协作为PD设计和理论发展提供有关教师PD计划中支持教学变革的关键组成部分和因素的信息。这些结果将使参与课程的协调员能够改进他们自己对已被证明有效的教学策略的课堂使用，并影响其课程的其他讲师的教学创新。这个项目意义重大，因为这个PD项目提供的理论将允许其他机构增加教师对与教学相关的PD的参与，这些教学相关PD对本科生的数学学习结果有类似的影响。该项目由NSF的STEM教育研究中的EHR核心研究能力建设计划(ECR：BCSER)支持，该计划旨在建设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，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。

Undergraduate mathematics courses are required foundational courses for almost all STEM majors, since science, technology, and engineering are all built on mathematical underpinnings. Therefore, effective mathematics instruction at the undergraduate level opens the door to these fields, making it possible for students to pursue studies in scientific and technical areas. Unfortunately, students typically cite ineffective or uninspiring classroom instruction in foundational mathematics courses as prominent obstacles to their degree progress and, as a result, may be discouraged from seeking STEM degrees. It has long been known that using student-centered instructional approaches (e.g., less time spent lecturing and increased use of active-learning strategies) improves student learning outcomes and persistence in math courses. However, because undergraduate foundational mathematics courses are often taught by instructors with little background or training in active-learning strategies, a critical need to provide mathematics faculty professional development to improve instructional practices in these courses remains. The objectives of this project are to develop the PI’s expertise about faculty Professional Development (PD) design; to create, iteratively implement, and examine how PD cycles affect foundational math instructors’ teaching practices and perspectives; and to contribute to theory about supporting meaningful instructional change in foundational mathematics courses. By supporting instructional change, the project should have broad impacts on undergraduate STEM education including the following: improving instruction for students taking foundational mathematics courses, thus positively impacting STEM major’s persistence and involvement in the STEM workforce; and developing an infrastructure and model that can be used to support instructional change and PD in other undergraduate STEM areas.To inform theory about the key components and factors in faculty PD that support instructional change, this project plans to design, analyze, and refine cycles of PD with foundational mathematics course coordinators in a community of practice around active learning strategies. During pre-existing, bi-weekly Foundational Mathematics Committee meetings, the PI will facilitate PD opportunities with all foundational mathematics course coordinators in her mathematics department. The PD will include iterative Problem-Solving Cycles (where each ‘cycle’ is a series of interconnected meetings organized around a rich mathematical task, enabling instructors to share a common learning, planning, and teaching experience) and a community of practice approach with Core Reflection practices to develop a system of supports with and for the course coordinators. Through the adoption of this design-based research approach (i.e., designing, field-testing, analyzing, & refining), the participating coordinators, the PI, and research team members will collaborate to inform PD design and theory development regarding the key components and factors in the faculty PD program that support instructional change. These results will enable the participating course coordinators to improve their own classroom use of pedagogical strategies that have been proven effective, and to influence instructional innovation among the other instructors of their courses. This project is significant because the theory informed by this PD program will allow other institutions to increase faculty participation in teaching-related PD that has similar impacts on undergraduate mathematics learning outcomes. 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.