Transformational Change Efforts Student Engagement In Mathematics Through An Institutional Network For Active Learning

The purpose of this handbook is to help launch institutional transformations in mathematics departments to improve student success. We report findings from the Student Engagement in Mathematics through an Institutional Network for Active Learning (SEMINAL) study. SEMINAL's purpose is to help change agents, those looking to (or currently attempting to) enact change within mathematics departments and beyond—trying to reform the instruction of their lower division mathematics courses in order to promote high achievement for all students. SEMINAL specifically studies the change mechanisms that allow postsecondary institutions to incorporate and sustain active learning in Precalculus to Calculus 2 learning environments. Out of the approximately 2.5 million students enrolled in collegiate mathematics courses each year, over 90% are enrolled in Precalculus to Calculus 2 courses. Forty-four percent of mathematics departments think active learning mathematics strategies are important for Precalculus to Calculus 2 courses, but only 15 percnt state that they are very successful at implementing them. Therefore, insights into the following research question will help with institutional transformations: What conditions, strategies, interventions and actions at the departmental and classroom levels contribute to the initiation, implementation, and institutional sustainability of active learning in the undergraduate calculus sequence (Precalculus to Calculus 2) across varied institutions?

Active and Transformative Learning in STEAM Disciplines is a unique reference volume for the new student-centric and objectives-oriented learning environment where individual and team learning paths enhance problem solving capabilities.

"This book examines the experiences of a cohort of 16 Black male math majors. It amplifies the participants' voices to chronicle their persistence in the major. Using Black masculinity and critical race theory, the author employs an asset-based approach to tell a captivating story about this cohort within a racially affirming learning community. This book showcases the nation's top producer of Black male math majors, extends the knowledge base regarding HBCUs' multigenerational legacy of success, and makes a significant contribution to the growing body of discipline-based education research. In so doing, the author provides recommendations for families, educators, policymakers, and researchers to improve Black boys' and men's mathematics achievement outcomes"--

The Board on Science Education and the Board on Mathematical Sciences and Analytics of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine convened the Workshop on Increasing Student Success in Developmental Mathematics on March 18-19, 2019. The Workshop explored how to best support all students in postsecondary mathematics, with particular attention to students who are unsuccessful in developmental mathematics and with an eye toward issues of access to promising reforms and equitable learning environments. The two-day workshop was designed to bring together a variety of stakeholders, including experts who have developed and/or implemented new initiatives to improve the mathematics education experience for students. The overarching goal of the workshop was to take stock of the mathematics education community's progress in this domain. Participants examined the data on students who are well-served by new reform structures in developmental mathematics and discussed various cohorts of students who are not currently well served - those who even with access to reforms do not succeed and those who do not have access to a reform due to differential access constraints. Throughout the workshop, participants also explored promising approaches to bolstering student outcomes in mathematics, focusing especially on research and data that demonstrate the success of these approaches; deliberated and discussed barriers and opportunities for effectively serving all students; and outlined some key directions of inquiry intended to address the prevailing research and data needs in the field. This publication summarizes the presentations and discussion of the workshop.

This publication is for faculty, administrators, and other academic leaders who are poised to mount comprehensive STEM reforms to improve student learning and success, particularly for students from underrepresented minority groups. Based on the experiences of eleven colleges and universities in the Keck/PKAL STEM Education Effectiveness Framework project, the Guide contains advice on getting started, team and leader development, project management, and sustaining change. It also includes benchmarks, key questions for analysis, timeline information, challenge alerts to help anticipate common roadblocks, and a rubric to help campus teams gauge their progress. Examples from case studies developed by campus teams who participated in the project provide real-world illustrations.

Developing Learner-Centered Teaching offers a step-by-step plan for transforming any course from teacher-centered to the more engaging learner-centered model. Filled with self-assessments and worksheets that are based on each of the five practices identified in Maryellen Weimer's Learner-Centered Teaching, this groundbreaking book gives instructors, faculty developers, and instructional designers a practical and effective resource for putting the learner-centered model into action.

Active learning spaces offer students opportunities to engage, collaborate, and learn in an environment that taps into their innate curiosity and creativity. Students well versed in active learning - the capabilities that colleges, vocational schools and the workforce demand - will be far more successful than those educated in traditional classrooms. Get Active is a practical guide to inform your thinking about how best to design schools and classrooms to support learning in a connected, digital world. From classroom redesigns to schoolwide rennovation projects and new building construction, the authors show the many ways that active learning spaces can improve the learning experience.

This study examines the impact of interdisciplinary project work on student engagement in mathematics learning. Students in a multiage first and second grade classroom participated in both interdisciplinary and traditional math work. Data were collected through observation, field notes and student work were analyzed to determine whether student engagement improved during the interdisciplinary project work. Indicators of engagement were identified, and found to coincide with connection, a social context, active learning and challenge. Interdisciplinary project work was found to be likely to include those elements of engagement. Finally, embedded and standardized assessments indicated a strong correlation between interdisciplinary project work, engagement, and achievement in mathematics learning.

There are over 20 million young people of color in the United States whose representation in STEM education pathways and in the STEM workforce is still far below their numbers in the general population. Their participation could help re-establish the United States' preeminence in STEM innovation and productivity, while also increasing the number of well-educated STEM workers. There are nearly 700 minority-serving institutions (MSIs) that provide pathways to STEM educational success and workforce readiness for millions of students of colorâ€"and do so in a mission-driven and intentional manner. They vary substantially in their origins, missions, student demographics, and levels of institutional selectivity. But in general, their service to the nation provides a gateway to higher education and the workforce, particularly for underrepresented students of color and those from low-income and first-generation to college backgrounds. The challenge for the nation is how to capitalize on the unique strengths and attributes of these institutions and to equip them with the resources, exceptional faculty talent, and vital infrastructure needed to educate and train an increasingly critical portion of current and future generations of scientists, engineers, and health professionals. Minority Serving Institutions examines the nation's MSIs and identifies promising programs and effective strategies that have the highest potential return on investment for the nation by increasing the quantity and quality MSI STEM graduates. This study also provides critical information and perspective about the importance of MSIs to other stakeholders in the nation's system of higher education and the organizations that support them.

This monograph examines the nature of active learning at the higher education level, the empirical research on its use, the common obstacles and barriers that give rise to faculty resistance, and how faculty and staff can implement active learning techniques. A preliminary section defines active learning and looks at the current climate surrounding the concept. A second section, entitled "The Modified Lecture" offers ways that teachers can incorporate active learning into their most frequently used format: the lecture. The following section on classroom discussion explains the conditions and techniques needed for the most useful type of exchange. Other ways to promote active learning are also described including: visual learning, writing in class, problem solving, computer-based instruction, cooperative learning, debates, drama, role playing, simulations, games, and peer teaching. A section on obstacles to implementing active learning techniques leads naturally to the final section, "Conclusions and Recommendations," which outlines the roles that each group within the university can play in order to encourage the implementation of active learning strategies. The text includes over 200 references and an index. (JB)