Online Mentoring Project

Drexel University, Philadelphia PA

Investigators

Abstract

Mathematical Sciences (21). This project is developing an online mentoring guide (OMG) to enable professors to integrate mentoring experiences into their mathematics and mathematics education courses. Pre-service teachers in these courses participate in mentoring activities associated with the Math Forum's "Problems of the Week" feature, a web-based project in which students in grades 3-12 submit solutions to six different posted problems. These "apprentice" mentors respond to each student and engage them in mathematical discourse. The OMG also allows individuals to pursue mentoring for continuing education credit or simply for professional growth. Incorporating the OMG in a variety of math-oriented classes is expected to encourage more students to consider teaching as a profession. Assessment of the impact of the mentoring experience on the student participants' understanding of mathematics teaching issues and children's learning of mathematics is being undertaken through focus groups, pre- and post-interviews, video conferencing, and Internet-based communications. Participating faculty at nine institutions are piloting versions of the OMG and providing feedback, from both themselves and their students, to improve the Guide, the Math Forum's existing mentoring environment, and the capacity to mentor more students.