From Symbol Manipulation to Meaning Making: a Cross-disciplinary Video Development Project to Promote Fluency with Mathematics in Science

University Of California-San Diego, La Jolla CA

Investigators

Abstract

In this project the University of California-San Diego seeks to promote fluency with mathematics in science. A significant aspect of this project is the interdisciplinary team of mathematicians with expertise in statistics and science faculty who are functioning as a Community of Practice to develop, test, and refine videos focusing on rates of change and probability. The new videos will be unique as the development is informed by the research base. This important use of videos in teaching and learning is expected to move students from fragmented, procedural, and context dependent knowledge to a stage of having more integrated, conceptual and transferable knowledge. The primary goal of the project will be to produce 40 short instructional videos with compelling visuals and clear explanations. The videos will address eight inter-disciplinary sub-topics within the two fundamental topic areas: rates of change and probability. The full scope of the project will include producing individual videos exploring the sub-topics of rates of change and probability across physics, chemistry, biology, and mathematics. A fifth video will provide an example of their relevance in research. The external evaluator will collect qualitative and quantitative data testing the impact of the use of videos the team makes across four different disciplines. A report from the Pew Research Center indicates that broadband access among disadvantaged and rural populations while not ubiquitous provides by far the best tool for making education materials available. African American and Hispanic learners are more apt to have a handheld device. Cultural and pedagogical inclusivity will be achieved by adapting materials developed for the web to function on hand held devices.