Integrating Methods for Universal Design for Learning in Introductory Undergraduate Mathematics Courses

该项目旨在通过为教师提供使用通用学习设计（UDL）的专业发展，提高学生在入门级大学数学课程的学习成果，从而为国家利益服务。通过以UDL为中心的专业发展，大学教师将学习如何实施多种有效的教学策略，这些策略与学生多样化的学习需求相一致。大学生经常发现入门级数学课程非常具有挑战性，这些课程可能会造成障碍，减缓STEM专业在学位课程中的进展。数学教育研究人员主张对本科课程结构和教师发展进行重大修改，以提高学生在这些基础课程中的学习成果。该项目将创建和评估一个新的教师专业发展计划的有效性，这将有助于数学教师在数学入门课程中实施UDL。UDL提供了使用教学策略的指导方针，这些策略考虑到学习者的多样性，并寻求提高学生对课程内容的可访问性。该研究小组旨在开发和测试一种新的工具，以评估UDL在课程中的使用程度。该项目将创建两个教师研讨会，以准备数学教师在他们的课程中实施UDL。提高学生在基础数学课程的学习成果应该帮助学生提高他们在STEM专业毕业的进展。该项目的总体目标是培训数学教师，使他们能够实施教学策略，从而提高学生的学习成果。该项目的具体目标是：（1）开发和验证一种评估工具，可用于评估UDL在课程中的使用程度;（2）培训数学教师使用UDL指导方针重新设计课程;（3）使用UDL改善学生在入门数学课程中的学习。该研究计划解决了研究差距，了解教师专业发展的有效性，增加UDL在本科课程中的使用，如何评估UDL的实施，以及如何在教师实施的UDL框架的变化影响教学。新的评估工具，教师发展计划和研究成果将通过全国会议和数学教育出版物传播到数学教育界，使其他数学教育工作者将有机会适应这种方法，以他们的机构。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。该奖项反映了NSF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。

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving student learning outcomes in introductory level college mathematics courses by providing professional development for faculty in the use of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Through UDL-focused professional development, college faculty will learn how to implement multiple effective teaching strategies that are aligned with students’ diverse learning needs. College students often find introductory level mathematics courses to be very challenging, and these courses can create barriers that slow down the progress of STEM majors in their degree programs. Mathematics education researchers have argued for significant revisions to undergraduate course structure and faculty development to improve student learning outcomes in these foundational courses. This project will create and assess the effectiveness of a new faculty professional development program that will help mathematics faculty implement UDL in introductory mathematics courses. UDL provides guidelines for using teaching strategies that account for the diversity of learners and seek to improve student accessibility to course content. The research team aims to develop and test a new instrument to assess the degree to which UDL is being used in courses. The project will create two faculty workshops to prepare mathematics faculty to implement UDL in their courses. Improving student learning outcomes in foundational mathematics courses should help students improve their progress towards graduation in STEM majors. The overall goal of this project is to train mathematics faculty so that they can implement teaching strategies that lead to improvements in student learning outcomes. The specific goals of the project are: (1) to develop and validate an assessment instrument that can be used to assess the extent to which UDL is being used in a course; (2) to train mathematics faculty to use UDL guidelines to re-design their courses; and (3) to use UDL to improve student learning in introductory mathematics courses. The research plan addresses research gaps in understanding the effectiveness of faculty professional development in increasing the use of UDL in undergraduate courses, how UDL implementations are assessed, and how variability in faculty implementation of the UDL framework impacts instruction. The new assessment instrument, faculty development programs, and research results will be disseminated to the mathematics education community through national conferences and mathematics education publications so that other mathematics educators will have the opportunity to adapt this approach to their institutions. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program 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.