Determining the Characteristics of Equitable Mathematics Programs

这个项目旨在了解如何开发公平的数学课程，在这些课程中，所有学生都可以发展对数学的归属感，并认为自己是一个可以做数学的人。许多大学数学课程现在都采用主动学习和探究式学习的方法。然而，这些课程中的一些学生并不以积极的方式看待他们的经历。例如，有证据表明，许多有色人种女性和学生发现她们在这类课程中的经历被边缘化了。她们可能会认为，与白人男性同龄人相比，这门课程不那么积极，包容性也更差。为了了解这种差异，该项目将确定四个大学数学系，在这些系中，教学改革努力改善了学生的体验和坚持性，这些学生是在数学领域代表性不足的群体的成员。该项目将检查这些部门正在发生的事情，这一过程将包括深入了解每个部门的一名成功的讲师。这项研究的结果有可能为如何提供公平的本科数学教学提供重要的新知识。该项目将采用案例研究方法，研究包括马里兰大学和德克萨斯大学格兰德河谷在内的四个系的结构和社区特征。该项目将确定这些部门的特点，以了解正在发生有意义的变化的背景。该项目还将确定支持学生坚持数学的条件和经验，因为他们在这些数学社区的经验，而不是尽管如此。教师支持公平数学教学的信念和教学实践将通过访谈和观察进行调查。这项为期两年的研究结果将在强调本科数学教育的国家会议上广泛传播，并在同行评议的学术出版物中广泛传播。该项目得到了NSF改善本科生STEM教育计划：教育和人力资源的支持，该计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。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。

This project aims to understand how to develop equitable mathematics courses in which all students can develop a sense of belonging in mathematics and identify as a person who can do mathematics. Many college mathematics courses now use active learning and inquiry-based learning approaches. However, some students in these courses do not perceive their experiences in positive ways. For example, evidence suggests that many women and students of color find their experience in such courses to be marginalizing. They may consider the course to be less positive and less inclusive than their white male peers. To understand this difference, the project will identify four university mathematics departments within which instructional change efforts have improved the experiences and persistence of students who are members of groups that are underrepresented in the mathematics fields. The project will examine what is happening in these departments, a process that will include an in-depth look at one successful instructor in each department. Results of this research have the potential to provide important new knowledge about how to deliver equitable undergraduate mathematics instruction. Using a case study approach, the project will study structures and community characteristics in four departments, which will include the University of Maryland and the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. The project will identify characteristics of these departments to capture the context in which meaningful change is taking place. The project will also identify conditions and experiences that support students to persist in mathematics because of, not in spite of, their experiences in these mathematics communities. Instructors' beliefs and instructional practices that support equitable mathematics instruction will be investigated through interviews and observations. Results from this two-year study will be disseminated widely at national meetings that emphasize undergraduate mathematics education and in peer-reviewed scholarly publications. This project is supported by the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program: Education and Human Resources, which supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the 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.