Report on the Nation's Undergraduate Mathematical Sciences Programs: Year Fifty of a Longitudinal Survey of Two-year and Four-year Institutions

American Mathematical Society, Providence RI

Investigators

Abstract

This project contributes to the national interest by increasing understanding of undergraduate mathematical sciences programs across the United States. This project will continue a cross-sectional, longitudinal survey of undergraduate mathematical sciences programs that has been done every five years since 1965. The comprehensive survey is endorsed by the Conference Board for the Mathematical Sciences (CBMS), an organization whose members are the presidents of the seventeen professional associations in the mathematical and statistical sciences. Consistent with previous CBMS surveys, the CBMS 2020 Survey will track changes in the curriculum, pedagogy, and enrollment levels by individual courses, bachelor's degrees granted, and program faculty. A comprehensive report will be developed to describe the survey results, thus providing current national benchmarks about the Nation's mathematical sciences departments. The CBMS 2020 Survey Report will be distributed in spring 2020 to science policy leaders at the national level and to all U. S. mathematical sciences programs. It will also be freely available online and in print. The findings of the survey will be promoted to the mathematical sciences community at professional meetings and in publications. Improving the Nation's undergraduate STEM efforts depends on improving undergraduate mathematics and statistics, and planning future reforms begins by knowing the present. The survey report will provide data on crucial issues within the mathematical sciences community, catalyzing other educational research. The statistical design of the stratified random sample survey and associated statistical analysis will be conducted by statisticians at Westat, Inc., who will work in consultation with a steering committee appointed by CBMS. The final report will be written by the project's senior personnel and published by the American Mathematical Society. The survey's evolving structure will contribute to educational survey research methodology. In addition, the CBMS 2020 Survey will include topics of current importance to leaders concerned with undergraduate education in the mathematical sciences. Examples of topics include: (1) evidence-based teaching practices; (2) practices in distance-learning courses; (3) instructional strategies in College Algebra, Calculus I, and Elementary Statistics; (4) instructional strategies and delivery methods in developmental mathematics; (5) assessment of mathematics and statistics programs; (5) data on gender and under-represented groups; (6) undergraduate research and internship opportunities in the mathematical sciences; and (6) full-time faculty at four-year departments who not eligible for tenure. 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.