Supporting College Instructors in Improving College Algebra Teaching and Student Outcomes

University Of Texas At San Antonio, San Antonio TX

Investigators

Abstract

This project at the University of Texas San Antonio (UTSA) aims to improve teaching and learning in college algebra through the development of a collaborative faculty development program. For many STEM major pathways, college algebra courses remain a major obstacle for timely degree completion and success. Three objectives will guide the project team. First is to allow instructors to collaborate and observe each other’s teaching. Second is to provide resources (including time) to help instructors learn about evidence-based, student-centered instructional practices. Third is to support long-term transformation implementing a research-supported model for course improvement. Through their experiences, faculty will gain facility with student-centered mathematics teaching practices that will result in improved student success outcomes. The project will impact about 1600 potential STEM students at UTSA per year, better preparing them for subsequent mathematics courses required by STEM degree programs and will build a community of instructors dedicated to the continued improvement of the college. Project research and evaluation will facilitate a deeper understanding of how instructors’ mindset and teaching practices are impacted by the faculty development efforts, while also examining impacts on student outcomes. Instructional transformation at the post-secondary level is difficult to catalyze. Much is known about the effectiveness of student-centered learning in college mathematics, but not much is understood about how instructors at the college level incorporate these ideas and strategies into their classrooms. This project proposes to implement Continuous Improvement (CI), a proven instructional improvement framework, to encourage instructors to include more student-centered learning in their classrooms. The CI framework has previously been studied with elementary mathematics content courses for prospective teachers; this project proposes to implement it in college algebra, which is a new context for this model. The investigators will observe and document how instructors’ thinking about instruction and classroom practices change throughout the grant cycle. Major data sources include observations of instructors’ classrooms, interviews and instructional team meetings, which will help build understanding of the potential opportunities and barriers that college instructors face when incorporating student-centered teaching strategies. The project will then connect instructor change to student learning outcomes, including: 1) growth in conceptual algebra knowledge; 2) pass/fail rates in college algebra; and 3) outcomes of college algebra students in subsequent mathematics courses. The results have the potential to strengthen the field’s understanding of how shifting to student-centered instruction can result in improved student learning and success outcomes in STEM. The Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program) aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs. Achieving these aims, given the diverse nature and context of the HSIs, requires innovative approaches that incentivize institutional and community transformation and promote fundamental research (i) on engaged student learning, (ii) about what it takes to diversify and increase participation in STEM effectively, and (iii) that improves our understanding of how to build institutional capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also draw from these approaches to generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims. 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.