Collaborative Research: Improving the Preparation of College Mathematics Instructors to Implement Student-centered, Inclusive Teaching

San Francisco State University, San Francisco CA

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving college mathematics instruction. To do so, it will develop and disseminate a guide for designing professional development programs to help college mathematics instructors become more effective teachers. To create this guide, the project will draw from existing mathematics instructor preparation programs and resources. The resulting Instructor Preparation Design Tool will be adaptable so that departments can use to it meet the needs of their specific students, instructors, courses, and department. For example, the Instructor Preparation Design Tool can be tailored to the type of institution and types of novice mathematics instructors in the department. To identify the contents of the Instructor Preparation Design Tool, the project team will identify key topics and associated resources to include, survey departments at institutions with existing preparation programs about those topics, and pilot test versions of the Instructor Preparation Design Tool with departments that are creating or revising their college mathematics instructor programs. Through this process of consultation and design, the project aims to generate and test resources demonstrating how to put into action best-practice recommendations about mathematics teaching. The Instructor Preparation Design Tool is expected to support undergraduate mathematics departments in making transformative changes to deliver more student-centered and inclusive instruction. The Instructor Preparation Design Tool is intended to provide the “recipe” for how a mathematics department can support their instructors to enact new evidence-based strategies that have been curated by the Mathematical Association of America and other organizations. To support creation of the Instructor Preparation Design Tool, the project team includes Expert Providers of preparation for each type of novice instructional role (e.g., teaching assistants). Expert Providers come from diverse institutional types and have made significant improvements to instructional preparation at their institution. The team will collect, analyze, and categorize information about existing programs. In developing the Instructor Preparation Design Tool, the project team will determine critical topics of value to each type of instructional assignment and type of institution, with a timeline and recommended order for discussion, revision, and decision-making about professional development program topics. The Instructor Preparation Design Tool will also address challenges inherent in acknowledging, deciding on actions, and being accountable for addressing inequities with each type of instructional role and institution. Finally, the Instructor Preparation Design Tool will begin to develop ways to evaluate the effectiveness of professional development programs for mathematics instructors, including measures of accountability and ways to institutionalize necessary changes. The literature reviews that will be developed for each of these results will provide a synthesis of research for the field, and thus provide value apart from the Instructor Preparation Design Tool. The results of this project have the potential to create the foundation for improving the structure and curricula for mathematics instructor preparation, thus leading to improvements in undergraduate mathematics education. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program supports efforts to transform and improve STEM education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities. 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.