Fourteenth Quinquennial Report on the Nation's Programs in Undergraduate Mathematical Sciences at Two- and Four-Year Institutions

Conference Board Math Sciences, Chappaqua NY

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by conducting a comprehensive survey of the nation's undergraduate mathematical and statistical sciences programs at two-year and four-year institutions, building on historical cross-sectional surveys of undergraduate programs in the mathematical sciences that have been completed every five years since 1960. As a project within the IUSE Engaged Student Learning track at Level III, this survey will enable faculty, administrators, funders, and researchers to understand the current state of college-level mathematics instruction and to identify emergent issues in enrollments and instructional practices as well as the composition and use of faculty. These data will be used by departments as they seek to align themselves with commonly adopted best practices, by researchers in mathematics education as they look to identify and investigate opportunities for improved instruction and student learning, and by policy makers. This project will support the development and adoption of enhanced approaches to instruction across all of the mathematical sciences including statistics. In fall 2025, this project will send separate survey instruments to a stratified random sample of department chairs of four-year mathematics departments, statistics departments that have an undergraduate program, and public two-year colleges. The sample of departments that are chosen for the survey will be stratified by highest degree offered, a proxy for the categories of research university, regional public university, or undergraduate college. The sample will be further stratified by the size of the undergraduate enrollment. In addition, and for the first time, this project will build a dashboard to house and organize data form 2025 and beyond. This dashboard will include suitably anonymized institutional-level data, enabling users to construct their own queries. Preparation for the survey will include interviews with a representative sample of department chairs and institutional research leaders as well as an advisory committee. This preparation will ensure that the survey collects information that is relevant and useful. The data that will be collected are far more detailed than what is available from any other national source and will be especially important for two-year colleges for which the CBMS surveys are the only regular source of comparative data on mathematical sciences programs. The report that emerges from this survey will serve as a critical resource for decision-making at all institutions and agencies charged with policy making. The NSF IUSE:EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. 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.