Building Capacity: Catalyzing Change in Calculus

改善本科生STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构计划(HSI计划)旨在加强本科生STEM教育，并在HSIS建设能力。HSI计划支持的项目也将产生关于如何实现这些目标的新知识。佛罗里达国际大学的这个项目将通过增加学生在微积分方面的成功来推进HSI计划的目标。利用与布罗沃德学院的合作关系，该项目将在微积分中实施建模实践，这是一个以学生为中心的课程，学生通过参与数学家的真实实践来学习微积分。这些实践包括团队合作，从不同的角度看问题，以及熟练地使用术语和符号。与同龄人接近的助教将促进课堂学习，使学生能够从错误中学习，给予和接收反馈，并帮助彼此学习。该项目的研究设计包括对学生成功的纵向衡量，以及对从布罗沃德学院转到佛罗里达国际大学的学生的跟踪。该项目将直接影响在两个HSI注册的超过15,000名学生，其中超过80%的学生来自历史上代表性不足的群体。该项目的具体目标包括产生关于建模实践课程有效性的新知识，以及该课程如何为高度不同的学生群体培养学习。此外，它将产生有关教师采用做法和制度变化的知识，因为它建立了一种制度文化，以维持和扩大干预。研究设计包括随机对照试验和多变量匹配方法，为建模实践课程的影响建立强有力的证据基础，并促进学生结果的即时和纵向比较。在资助期间，该项目将为教师举办八个专业发展研讨会。经过实施测试的建模实践课程材料、教学指南和研究结果将广泛传播到拥有不同学生群体的两年制和四年制机构，这些机构正在寻求加强微积分的学习。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。

The Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program (HSI Program) aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI program will also generate new knowledge about how to achieve these aims. This project at Florida International University will advance the aims of the HSI Program by increasing the success of students in calculus. Leveraging a partnership with Broward College, this project will implement Modeling Practices in Calculus, a student-centered curriculum in which students learn calculus by engaging in the authentic practices of mathematicians. Such practices include working in teams, looking at problems from different perspectives, and proficiently using terminology and symbols. Learning assistants who are near peers will facilitate learning in the classroom, enabling students to learn from mistakes, give and receive feedback, and help one another learn. The project's research design includes longitudinal measures of student success and the tracking of students who transfer from Broward College to Florida International University. The project will directly affect over 15,000 students enrolled at two HSIs, where over 80% of students are from historically-underrepresented groups.The specific aims of the project include generating new knowledge about the effectiveness of the Modeling Practices Curriculum and how this curriculum fosters learning for highly diverse student populations. Further, it will generate knowledge about faculty adoption practices and institutional change as it establishes an institutional culture to sustain and expand the intervention. The research design includes randomized-control trials as well as multivariate matching methods to establish a strong evidentiary base for the impacts of the Modeling Practices Curriculum and facilitate comparison of student outcomes, both immediate and longitudinal. Over the period of funding, the project will host eight professional development workshops for faculty. The implementation-tested Modeling Practices Curriculum materials, instructional guides, and research finding will be disseminated broadly, to two-year and four-year institutions with diverse student populations that are seeking to enhance the learning of calculus.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.