Exploring the Impact of Community Engagement on STEM Undergraduates via Math Circles for Urban Elementary School Students

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

This project aims to serve the national interest by fostering partnerships between higher education and local communities to improve K-12 math education while developing the teaching, leadership, and communication skills of undergraduates majoring in STEM fields. The project will develop and assess an innovative year-long community engagement program that prepares undergraduates to lead math circles with urban elementary school students in multiple community settings. Through exploration, collaboration, and problem solving, math circles promote positive perceptions of mathematics, children's ability to do math, and the relevance of math to everyday life. This project will advance understanding of the potential impact of math circles as a vehicle to enhance undergraduate STEM learning experiences. Undergraduate facilitators will be empowered to apply mathematics to effect positive change in their community. The project will also serve to broaden participation in math education, strengthen pathways to the STEM workforce, foster deeper understanding of important mathematical concepts, and build knowledge of best practices in teaching and learning.The project’s overarching goal is to develop an innovative community engagement program to harness the knowledge, skills, and enthusiasm of well-prepared STEM undergraduates to facilitate collaborative mathematics problem solving among elementary school students in their local community. Over three years, the project will design, implement, and iteratively improve a credit-bearing course that will prepare STEM undergraduates to lead math circles with elementary school children in various community settings: a school-based after school program, a public library, and the Boys and Girls Club. Four key tasks each year guide the project. First is to offer an elective community engagement course for all STEM majors. Second is to collaborate with partner sites to recruit elementary school students to participate in a math circle program. Third is to collect and analyze data to ascertain the impact on undergraduate math circle facilitators. The fourth and final task is to undertake formative and summative evaluation to strengthen outcomes for undergraduate facilitators and improve both the project-developed course and the overall community engagement program. The data gathered will provide a rich picture of who chooses to be a math circle facilitator and why, and the impact on students’ knowledge, skills, and perceptions of mathematics within and across community sites. Results will be disseminated via research publications, presentations at major conferences, webinars, a public-facing website, and a blueprint for replicating the project model at other institutions of higher learning. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through its 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.