Conference: Eliminating the Mathematics Barrier for All Students: Bringing Innovation to Scale in Higher Education Mathematics

Mathematical Association Of America, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by developing ways that undergraduate instructional reform in introductory mathematics courses could be scaled to expand efforts aimed at student success in undergraduate mathematics and increase STEM participation for students that represent the full spectrum of diverse talent at US institutions. Over the past decade, several significant innovations have emerged to address particular challenges in undergraduate mathematics, which contribute to helping students develop the basic mathematics proficiency they need to be successful in STEM. Concurrently, there has been a rise of teaching-focused faculty at research-intensive institutions who are uniquely positioned to influence introductory mathematics coursework. With a goal to help the nation meet its STEM workforce needs, this convening will explore how these teaching-focused faculty can leverage effective innovations to create a nationally scalable structure for improving student experiences and success in introductory mathematics courses. Reforms in undergraduate mathematics education that address college completion and equity in higher education are essential to meeting the nation’s STEM workforce and national security needs. There are many innovative efforts addressing the improvement of entry-level mathematics courses, and numerous projects and institutions have created, piloted, and occasionally replicated effective reform efforts that overcame particular challenges, like the need to reform pedagogy or attend to gender equity. This convening aims to address structural barriers to systemic reform that prevent implementation of many of these research-backed innovations at scale. The project aspires to leverage current practices, that distribute much of the entry-level mathematics course teaching and coordination to teaching-focused faculty, as an opportunity for new pathways to reform. As such, the convening will bring together more than 40 stakeholders, including teaching-focused faculty, to produce a concept paper articulating the needs of the community to develop new solutions to recognized obstacles for student success in introductory mathematics courses and to understand ways in which to scale research-based efforts and innovations that have shown promise in increasing student success in these courses. In addition, the convening will draft structures for change and will lay the groundwork, centered on building networked communities of teaching-focused mathematics faculty at research-intensive universities, for future efforts that could accelerate the uptake of research-based solutions to meet the challenges of introductory mathematics courses. The NSF IUSE: EDU 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.