Postdoctoral Fellowship: STEMEdIPRF: Investigating Relations between Calculus Instructor Approaches and Engineering Program Expectations across 2-Year and 4-Year Colleges

San Diego State University Foundation, San Diego CA

Investigators

Abstract

Preparation for interdisciplinary STEM careers is increasingly important, and college calculus courses are taken by students from a range of disciplines. While calculus instructors guide the content and teaching in these courses, there are gaps in the literature about the choices these instructors make when teaching calculus to students across different disciplines. In particular, engineering students are a key population in college calculus courses. This research will investigate mathematics instructor approaches to teaching calculus across 2-year and 4-year colleges, as well as the expectations of engineering programs about what their students are learning in calculus courses. Results from this research have the potential to improve undergraduate calculus instruction and its relevance for students across many STEM disciplines. This study aims to investigate how calculus is taught across 2-year and 4-year colleges in California, as well as how these approaches relate to expectations of engineering faculty whose students are required to complete college calculus. The research will leverage two existing frameworks from the literature to guide data collection and analysis: the calculus content framework and the cognitive orientation of the calculus task items. The researchers aim to explore approaches to teaching college calculus by mathematics instructors through content analysis of a range of course materials sampled across multiple 2-year and 4-year colleges, characterizing the calculus content and cognitive framing of course materials. Additionally, interview and survey methodologies will be used to investigate expectations of calculus coursework among engineering faculty. Research findings have the potential to broadly inform improvements in calculus education for interdisciplinary STEM. Also, results could provide a framework for analyzing the relations between what is offered by mathematics faculty and departments and what is expected by disciplinary programs, such as engineering. Further, the research has the potential to inform transfer pathways in mathematics across higher education institutions and for multiple STEM majors. This project is funded by the STEM Education Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (STEM Ed PRF) program that aims to enhance the research knowledge, skills, and practices of recent doctorates in STEM, STEM education, education, and related disciplines to advance their preparation to engage in fundamental and applied research that advances knowledge within the field. 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.