Building a Calculus Active Learning Environment Equally Beneficial Across a Diverse Student Population

该项目旨在通过在奥本大学的微积分课程中实施基于证据的主动学习来服务于国家利益，奥本大学是一所位于亚拉巴马州的大型公立研究密集型大学，是一个促进竞争研究的既定计划（EPSCoR）州。受伊利诺伊大学厄巴纳-香槟分校新兴学者优秀计划的启发，本项目计划在奥本大学建立优秀背诵部分。在这种类型的复习课中，学生们延长了课堂时间，在训练有素的主持人的带领下，在小组中合作完成具有挑战性的任务。最近的研究表明，在主动学习的一些实施中，来自历史上被剥夺权利的群体的学生并没有像其他群体那样受益。该项目计划调查这一重要问题，旨在建立教学最佳实践，以提高学术成果并鼓励STEM坚持下去，特别关注挖掘机构中各种人才的全方位。该项目的一个重要方面将包括在教育研究中使用健身跟踪器，以告知结构和课程变化，这将提高学生在微积分中的学习。该项目的目标是建立一个基于证据的微积分主动学习计划，并确定在最初的计划实施的压力。该项目旨在制定战略和干预措施，以及重组积极的学习环境，从学习环境中消除无意的、无根据的教学压力。此外，该项目计划提供支持，以尽量减少学生在故意设置教学压力时的心理困扰。项目团队将使用健身追踪器测量学生的心率变异性，以确定学生在主动学习期间何时可能会遇到困扰。该计划将使用从学生的心率数据，自我报告的压力水平和学术成果中获得的见解进行改进。此外，该项目的范围包括通过帮助建立教室传感器数据收集的强大和有效的方法，为教育环境中新兴的现场研究领域做出贡献。NSF IUSE：EDU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 implementing evidence-based active learning in a calculus course at Auburn University, a large public research-intensive university located in Alabama, an Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR) state. Inspired by the Merit Program for Emerging Scholars from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, this project plans to establish Merit recitation sections at Auburn University. In this type of recitation, students have extended class time to work collaboratively in groups on challenging tasks with a highly-trained facilitator. Recent studies have revealed that in some implementations of active learning, students from historically disenfranchised groups do not benefit to the same extent as other groups. This project plans to investigate this important issue, aiming to establish instructional best practices to enhance academic outcomes and encourage STEM persistence, with a specific focus on tapping the full spectrum of diverse talent at the institution. A significant aspect of this project will incorporate the use of fitness trackers in education research to inform structural and curricular changes that will enhance student learning in calculus. The project’s goals are to build an evidence-based calculus active learning program and determine stressors during the initial program implementation. The project intends to develop strategies and interventions, as well as restructure the active learning environment, to remove unintentional, ungrounded pedagogical stressors from the learning environment. Further, the project plans to develop supports to minimize students’ psychological distress during intentionally-placed instructional stressors. The project team will measure students’ heart rate variability with a fitness tracker to identify when students might be experiencing distress during active learning. The program will be refined using insights gained from students’ heart rate data, self-reported levels of stress, and academic outcomes. In addition, the project's scope includes contributing to the burgeoning field of in situ research in educational settings by helping to establish robust and valid methods for classroom sensor data collection. The NSF IUSE: EDU 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.