CAREER: Improving Access to STEM by Supporting Students’ Effective Use of Online Resources in Gateway Mathematics Courses

University Of Washington, Seattle WA

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving student learning in introductory mathematics courses. It will do so by researching how students in introductory mathematics use online resources to support their learning. A key focus area of the project is developing classroom interventions that support access in STEM by helping all students develop productive strategies for online study. Undergraduate students increasingly make use of online resources under their own direction and out of view of their instructors. This study practice is particularly notable in introductory mathematics classes where students often see online resources as critical to their success. Unfortunately, introductory mathematics classes play a gatekeeping role on the path to STEM fields for many undergraduates. Thus, ineffective use of online resources to learn introductory mathematics can decrease a student’s chances of persisting in STEM. This project will use a nationwide survey to build a knowledge base about how students are using online resources to navigate their introductory mathematics classes. Those results will be used to develop classroom interventions that help mathematics instructors and students gain a shared understanding of the most effective practices for using online resources to promote student success. This project will use an explanatory mixed methods study to develop a theoretical model of how students work with online resources to learn mathematics. That theory will form the basis for the iterative development of classroom interventions that will help bridge the current divide between student and instructor understandings of the role of these online resources. These interventions will target introductory mathematics courses that often serve as gatekeepers, particularly for first-generation students and students from communities that are underrepresented in STEM. Evaluation of the interventions' success will be based on how well they support students’ mathematical understanding and achievement in mathematics. This project will contribute to the STEM education community by using a rigorous methodological approach, which can be applied to other disciplines, to develop a theoretical model of the strategies that students employ when working with online resources to learn mathematics. In doing so, the project will contribute to educators’ and researchers’ understanding of how to support equitable STEM instruction by examining how the use of online resources in lower-division mathematics classes differs according to student background. This work will bring together multiple strands of education research including technology and education, mathematics education, and information literacy, and contribute to pedagogical practice through the collaborative development of formative interventions that will be refined through iterative design-based research in multiple classroom settings. The Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) Program is a National Science Foundation (NSF)-wide activity that supports early-career faculty who have the potential to serve as academic role models in research and education. This CAREER project is supported by the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Education and Human Resources Program. 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.