Catalyst Project: Broadening Participation Research for College Algebra Teachers

Catalyst项目为历史上的黑人学院和大学（HBCU）提供支持，以建立教师的研究能力，以加强科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）本科教育和研究。预计该奖项将进一步提高教师的研究能力，提高学院的研究和教学水平，并让本科生参与研究经验。弗吉尼亚州立大学与迪拉德大学合作，提议发展语言、读写和话语中的数学概念，作为增加大学代数可及性的手段。具体而言，该项目旨在将代数项目的内容和教学法方法纳入大学代数的实验部分。代数项目强调共享的具体事件和学生话语，这将这种方法与传统的大学数学课程结构区分开来。该项目旨在通过解决大学代数到微积分过渡中的一个潜在问题来扩大STEM的参与。本项目旨在根据代数项目在过去二十年中发展起来的数学内容和教学法，制作一门实验性的大学代数课程。基于代数项目的体验式学习模式，大学代数的主题重建有望加深学生对大学代数的理解，同时为传统上没有机会学习这门课程的学生群体提供微积分和依赖于微积分的定量科学研究的概念和程序基础。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Catalyst Projects provide support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) to work towards establishing research capacity of faculty to strengthen science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate education and research. It is expected that the award will further the faculty member's research capability, improve research and teaching at the institution, and involve undergraduate students in research experiences. Virginia State University, in collaboration with Dillard University, proposes to develop mathematical concepts in language, literacy, and discourse as a means of increasing accessibility to College Algebra. Specifically, the project seeks to incorporate aspects of the Algebra Project’s approach to content and pedagogy into experimental sections of College Algebra. The Algebra Project’s emphasis on shared concrete events and student discourse distinguishes this approach from the conventional structure of college math courses.This project seeks to broaden participation in STEM by addressing an underlying issue in the College Algebra to Calculus Transition. This project aims to produce an experimental College Algebra course based upon the mathematics content and pedagogy developed over the past twenty years within the Algebra Project. This thematic reconstruction of College Algebra – based upon the Algebra Project’s experiential learning model – holds the promise of deepening student understanding of College Algebra and simultaneously providing a conceptual and procedural foundation for the study of Calculus and the quantitative sciences that depend upon it for student populations that traditionally have not had access to this course of study.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.