Math Faculty Research Articles

Composing Math: An Interdisciplinary Faculty Partnership to Improve Undergraduate Writing in a Research-Focused Capstone Course

This article describes the outcomes of a faculty partnership between a math professor and a composition professor to improve the final paper in a research-focused senior capstone math course. Much attention has been paid in recent years to the importance of undergraduate research experiences and how to best create and support such endeavors. However, little space has been dedicated to helping math faculty design and scaffold writing assignments to support their students' development as scholars. We describe how our partnership took place, the changes we made to existing assignments and the creation of new ones, and an assessment of our efforts completed by an interdisciplinary group of faculty and students, which showed marked improvement in the areas of information literacy, critical thinking, and quality of writing.

College Mathematics Instructors’ Use of Recommended Pedagogical Practices

This study examined the extent to which college algebra instructors employ pedagogical practices previously found to assist students master difficult STEM content material and address their own previous math deficits. Faculty classroom behaviors were assessed with a modified version of the Generalized Observation and Reflection Platform (GORP). While it was not surprising that math faculty frequently lectured and wrote on the board, results also revealed that recommended practices were infrequently employed by instructors teaching college algebra. More specifically, faculty teaching introductory college algebra rarely addressed students’ misconceptions, made references to their students’ prior knowledge, or employed metacognitive teaching strategies. Moreover, while being observed, faculty never applied a mathematical concept to real life. Moreover, mathematics instructors rarely praised their students. The implications of these findings for professional development and hiring requirements are discussed and emphasized for college math department chairs and administrators generally. Results also highlighted the usefulness of the GORP assessment tool for assessing faculty classroom behaviors.

Program of Training for Acquisition of Research Skills in Teaching Methods for Mathematics Faculty Members at The University Level

The main aim of this paper is to identify research skills needed for a training program in Mathematics teaching methods designed for newly started math faculty members in order to improve their research aptitude, moreover, the study tries to find out which aspects of research skills are more needed for the training program. The analytical descriptive method is used. A questionnaire for collecting data was prepared. The validity, reliability, and consistency of the questionnaire were checked. A random sample covered 7 private universities 50% of the private universities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq were chosen. The (SPSS) was used, and mean, standard deviation correlation, and ANOVA were used for processing the data. The study found out there is a crucial need for research skills in all six research aspects.

APPLICATION OF AR-TECHNOLOGIES FOR FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING IN HIGHER EDUCATION FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF INDEPENDENT WORK

Statement of the problem. The article investigates the problem of AR-technologies application in foreign language teaching at university. Referring to the research of Russian and foreign scientists such as N. Howe, A.P. Avramenko, E.N. Solovovа, O.G. Starodubcevа, V.N. Taran, E.I. Passov and others, the authors develop a methodology for the formation of lexical competence through AR technologies in the organization of independent work of students of non-linguistic specialties. Results. The experiment was conducted on the basis of Chelyabinsk State University. The testees were the 1-st year students of the Math Faculty studying at Computer Security 10.05.01 specialty. 42 students took part in the experiment. The experiment lasted for one semester. We introduced in the educational process the applications with AR-functions such as Tik-Tok, Housecraft, and a social network messenger. As a result, an algorithm for choosing an AR-application was developed, and a methodology for the formation of lexical competence using AR-technologies was tested when organizing students' independent work. Conclusion. After conducting experimental and search work, we have figured out that the formation of lexical competence in the organization of independent work of students studying a foreign language with the AR-technologies is quite successful. We have found that AR-technologies allow leveling a number of communication barriers that students face when learning a foreign language. A universal algorithm for choosing an augmented reality application was developed to introduce it into the teaching process of any discipline. In addition, the methodology for working with AR-applications in foreign language classes was tested, positive results and good feedback from students were obtained. The advantages of AR-technologies for the purposes of foreign language teaching are described.

Faculty Perspectives on Using High School Data in an Era of Placement Testing Reform

Objective: Community colleges across the country are making dramatic shifts away from traditional reliance on placement testing for developmental education and toward using high school measures to assess college-readiness. Yet the views of faculty dealing with these changes, including their perspectives on the quality and usefulness of high school data, are not well-understood. We explore faculty views of high school transcript and placement testing data, attributions made with the data, and beliefs about the extent to which these data are useful for instruction. Methods: We conducted a survey and semi-structured interviews with math faculty in one community college math department ( n = 21). We used real high school records to develop a Personalized Student Profile of student math backgrounds to engage faculty in sensemaking about high school and placement testing data. Results: Faculty did not appear to readily trust high school data, tending only to do so when it fit their existing understandings of student ability as measured by placement tests. Although faculty described opportunities to use the data to inform instruction, they noted the challenges of actually doing so. Conclusions: The findings reveal significant faculty concerns about high school measures and point toward shifts in faculty attitudes and beliefs that may need to be addressed in order for reforms that upend traditional approaches to remediation and instruction to be successful. We discuss critical future research directions for this new paradigm of developmental education in community colleges.

Teaching College Algebra Using Web-Based, Project-Based and Peer-Led-Team Learnings

The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB) is the second oldest historically black land-grant institution in the state of Arkansas and has been producing well-qualified STEM scholars. However, STEM students at UAPB are affected by Mathematics classes, especially College Algebra. The purpose of this article is to share how the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science (MCS) increased the passing rates of College Algebra courses. MCS utilized three evidence-based (EB) instructional methods (WebAssign, Peer-Led-Team-Learning and Julia computer programing) and created a Co-Requisition College Algebra course to improve the passing rates of College Algebra courses. In addition, Math faculty received a 2-day faculty development training on EB instructional methods to properly and efficiently implement EB instructional methods. Through these activities the passing rates of College Algebra courses have improved. In addition, students who are enrolled in EB instructional College Algebra classes showed positive attitudes toward learning College Algebra according their survey results.

Impact Of Leadership Styles On Teaching Activities Of Math Faculty Members

Throughout the years, scientists have produced an overflow of work and information that includes esteem in the field of initiative examination. In spite of the fact that initiative is only an expression that is regularly utilized as a part of discussion and is every now and again depicted by different modifiers, for example, great administration, compelling authority, viable initiative, poor initiative and awful authority. Most researchers have arrived at the conclusion that the idea of administration does not credit to one particular definition. Despite the fact that an absence of amicability keeps on existing around a definite importance for administration, the vast majority of the analysts concur that initiative is an impact relationship between the pioneers and the supporter who have their mutual purposes and the pioneer accomplishes objectives through ceaseless motivation and inspiration of their adherents and there must adopt the leadership styles in to make impact on the faculty members. From the findings of the study we can assume that the respondents didn’t recognize the differences among the styles and so they have lack of knowledge about the leadership styles. The poor information about the leadership styles that for the respondents could not able to recognize the preferred style. The above two conclusions seems that the leaders themselves are not following specific style, so it’s difficult to indicate which style is adopted in management process in math departments

Quantitative Literacy: Now More Than Ever

This editorial highlights the eloquent words of Drs. Bernard Madison and Lynn Arthur Steen who, in the inaugural issue of Numeracy, note that quantitative literacy (QL) provides “tools for survival” in a highly competitive world. I discuss how QL is desperately needed at a precarious time for our nation’s democracy and how at LaGuardia Community College, and community colleges across the nation, important and creative work is being undertaken to build students’ math skills. The pivotal role of faculty is discussed and a call is made for colleges to support faculty as they undertake the challenging work of building QL skills for students who confront myriad obstacles in completing their degree. I conclude with a call for recognition of math faculty and the National Numeracy Network for undertaking the difficult work of delivering to students these essential “tools for survival.”

Confronting the Equity "Learning Problem" through Practitioner Inquiry

This study examined how participation in an inquiry-based workshop on assessing course syllabi for equity-mindedness and cultural inclusivity fostered community college math faculty learning about racial/ethnic equity and equity-mindedness. Findings show that the workshop prompted reflection on what equity means and how participants' teaching practices and classroom environments affect students, especially students of color. For some, reflection was followed by insights about their role as instructors and equity-minded changes in practice; for others, reflection affirmed the value of their existing conceptions and current practice. Despite initial signs of learning, there was little evidence that participants developed lasting equity-mindedness.

Group Activities for Math Enthusiasts

In this article we present three group activities designed for math students: a balloon-twisting workshop, a group proof of the irrationality of π, and a game of Math Bingo. These activities have been particularly successful in building enthusiasm for mathematics and camaraderie among math faculty and students at Kenyon College.

Exploring the dynamics of organizational learning: identifying the decision chains science and math faculty use to plan and teach undergraduate courses

The field of STEM education is increasingly focusing on processes of individual, cultural, and organization-level change in postsecondary institutions, yet current approaches tend to focus on individual leverage points isolated from other factors and the broader institutional context. Research on reform implementation highlights how individual decision-making is shaped by a variety of inter-connected factors - or what we call 'decision chains’. Organizational learning theory offers a way to conceptualize how these decision chains are implicated in the change process. Organizational learning refers to the processes whereby organizations store information in what is known as the ‘organizational memory’, how this information is retrieved, and how alterations to these processes can affect organizational. In this paper, we report findings from a qualitative case study of how 24 science and math faculty at a large, public research university in the United States engaged with their organization’s memory while planning courses. We also explore how a reform initiative—the Undergraduate Science Education (USE) project—influenced these memory functions. We analyzed semi-structured interviews using a structured approach to grounded theory as well as techniques for graphically depicting verbal data. Results indicate that faculty accessed five repositories of curricular information within the organizational memory: individual memory, cultural norms, social networks and human resources, curricular artifacts, and external archives. When retrieving information from these repositories, faculty primarily ‘fine-tuned’ existing curricular artifacts (i.e., lecture notes and PowerPoint slides). Analyses of decision chains used by faculty highlight the idiosyncratic manner in which planning unfolds in practice, the centrality of existing artifacts, the role of contextual factors, and the absence of continuous improvement systems. Analyses of the USE project’s effects indicate changes to features of the organizational memory. Besides contributing new insights into the nature of organizational learning in higher education, the decision chain method described in this paper can be used to complement existing metrics for program evaluation and to diagnose leverage points for new STEM education change efforts. A potentially useful approach may target curricular artifacts for regular updating and the imposition of continuous improvement systems, while allowing faculty local control over this process.

Exploring Faculty Beliefs about Student Learning and Their Role in Instructional Decision-Making

This study utilizes theory from situated cognition to investigate faculty beliefs about student learning and their influence on teaching decisions. Results of interviews with and observations of 56 science and math faculty found that the two most common beliefs are: (a) students learn best through repeated practice, and (b) students have different learning styles. The remaining 13 beliefs exhibited an underlying dimensionality regarding whether teachers or students are responsible for constructing knowledge and understanding. These findings provide insights into factors that can be used to design locally attuned interventions in contrast to a “top‑down” model of change.

Consequences of Flexibility Stigma Among Academic Scientists and Engineers

Flexibility stigma, the devaluation of workers who seek or are presumed to need flexible work arrangements, fosters a mismatch between workplace demands and the needs of professionals. The authors survey “ideal workers”—science, technology, engineering, and math faculty at a top research university—to determine the consequences of working in an environment with flexibility stigma. Those who report this stigma have lower intentions to persist, worse work–life balance, and lower job satisfaction. These consequences are net of gender and parenthood, suggesting that flexibility stigma fosters a problematic environment for many faculty, even those not personally at risk of stigmatization.

Fields medalist Ngo Bao Chau joins the University of Chicago's math faculty

Fields medalist Ngo Bao Chau joins the University of Chicago's math faculty

A Mathematical Trip to Princeton

Please send all submissions to Mathematical Tourist Editor, Dirk Huylebrouck, Aartshertogstraat 42, 8400 Oostende, Belgium e-mail: dirk.huylebrouck@gmail.com T he phone rings and a familiar voice speaks. ‘‘Since you’re going to Princeton this summer, you’ll surely be taking a tour of the Princeton campus, and their math department. When you go there, be sure to take note of a sculpture near the Math Department Commons Room. This piece involves three mathematicians: One was the artist, another commissioned the piece, and the third was the one to whom it was dedicated. When you get back, tell me what you ... what? No time? I’m sorry, you make the time.’’ Orders are orders, so you make the time and tour the beautiful Princeton University Campus. There, you find that sculpture, along with an ivory tower and many other sights worth seeing. The Princeton University mathematics department may or may not be in first place in the mythical USA Mathematics Marathon, but it is certainly up there in the lead pack. Two Fine Halls have housed the Princeton math department, both named for Henry Burchard Fine (1858–1928), the first chair of mathematics at Princeton and President of the American Mathematical Society in 1911–1912. The first building was opened in 1930; it was renamed Jones Hall in 1968 when the second and current Fine Hall was built. In the immediate vicinity of the current Fine Hall are one building and two sculptures worth a second look. The building is the Lewis Science Library [4], which opened in 2008. Designed by architect Frank O. Gehry, it is a mathematical marvel in its own right. (Go inside and look around: It’s time well spent.) Viewed from the Fine Hall tower, it resembles a cell complex (Figure 1). The library is one among many architectural gems at Princeton, as an architect friend from high-school and his historian wife demonstrated during a campus tour. The library stands next to Fine Hall on what was formerly the site of an informal volleyball court used by the math faculty and students. Apparently, when Fields Medalist William Thurston was on the faculty, he supplied the net, which he put up in the morning and took down in the evening. Two steel sculptures of mathematical character stand in the vicinity. The older one is Alexander Calder’s 26-foot sculpture ‘‘Five Disks: One Empty;’’ [3] dedicated in 1971, it stands in the Fine Hall courtyard plaza between the mathematics and physics departments. (Maybe it looks like a horse, and maybe it doesn’t–Modern Art is like that.) The newer one is Richard Serra’s ‘‘The Hedgehog and the Fox,’’ [5] a trio of 90-foot long and 15-foot high nested serpentine steel ribbons standing just east of the library. It’s fun to walk through this huge installation and listen to the echoes. Appropriately, when viewed from the Fine Hall tower, ‘‘The Hedgehog and the Fox’’ looks like a triple integral sign (Figure 2).

Educational Reform in Science and Mathematics: An Anthropological Perspective

This study illustrates the role of practicing anthropologists who seek to promote critical educational reform based on anthropological theory and ethnographic research. The analytic context is PRISM (Partnerships for Reform in Science and Mathematics), an initiative designed to improve the scientific and mathematical literacy of K-16 students in the state of Georgia. The unit of analysis is "Strategy 10," a dimension of PRISM also referred to as "The Reward Structure Committee," of which I am a member. The Committee's charge was to construct a new policy and reward structure that would advocate for and reward science and math faculty in the University System of Georgia (USG), whose work improves primary and secondary education in their respective disciplines.