While student-centered learning has been shown to improve learning experiences in the engineering classroom, adoption of these evidence-based strategies has been slow. Research has shown that faculty beliefs about teaching and limited exposure to formal training influence effective implementation of evidenced-based instructional practices. Thus, in an effort to explore ways to implement long-term instructional change in engineering higher education, a graduate-level course, the Instructional Incubator (I2), was developed to expose future educators to instructional design and evidence-based practices. In the I2, student participants developed new biomedical engineering short-courses in an active learning classroom. For the first two iterations of the I2, we examined how this immersive experience influenced participants’ perceived teaching abilities and understanding before and after enrolling in the I2. Both I2 cohorts reported an increase in knowledge of engineering education related terms and showed a shift away from behaviorist and cognitive beliefs about teaching and learning.
Introduction
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Lessons Learned About Incorporating High-Leverage Teaching Practices in the Undergraduate Proof Classroom to Promote Authentic and Equitable Participation
In recent years, professional organizations in the United States have suggested undergraduate mathematics shift away from pure lecture format. Transitioning to a student-centered class is a complex instructional undertaking especially in the proof-based context. In this paper, we share lessons learned from a design-based research project centering instructional elements as objects of design. We focus on how three high leverage teaching practices (HLTP; established in the K-12 literature) can be adapted to the proof context to promote student engagement in authentic proof activity with attention to issues of access and equity of participation. In general, we found that HLTPs translated well to the proof setting, but required increased attention to navigating between formal and informal mathematics, developing precision around mathematical objects, supporting competencies beyond formal proof construction, and structuring group work. We position this paper as complementary to existing research on instructional innovation by focusing not on task trajectories, but on concrete teaching practices that can support successful adaption of student-centered approaches.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1836559
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10399290
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education
- ISSN:
- 2198-9745
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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College and department administrators take undergraduate student complaints about Graduate Student Instructors (GSIs) seriously. However, little research has been done to examine the nature of undergraduate student complaints across multiple mathematics departments from the lens of student-centered instruction. In this study, we compared formal (i.e. documented in writing by the student) undergraduate mathematics student complaints about GSIs at two universities over five years. Complaints were analyzed by coding the contextualized concerns described in the complaints using the Mathematical Association of America’s Instructional Practices Guide to align complaints with topics discussed as best-teaching practices. Results demonstrated that concerns about classroom and assessment practices were the most prevalent. Concerns about classroom practices were slightly more abundant and more pervasive throughout the semester than concerns about assessment practices. Additionally, an outside-of-class issue undergraduate students raised was regarding the effectiveness of GSIs communication via emails.more » « less
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We STEM educators often hear that so many of our students fail because they are not college ready. But interventions at various levels, despite the hard work of implementation, have not resulted in dramatic improvements. What if, instead, the problem is that the institutional system – including instructional approaches and policies – is not student ready? The goal of our NSF supported project, called “Eco-STEM,” is to establish a healthy STEM educational ecosystem that allows all individuals within the ecosystem to thrive. The context for our work on STEM educational ecosystems is a Very High Hispanic Enrolling Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) at California State University, Los Angeles, where the majority of our students are also low-income and first-generation college students. Guided by an ecosystem paradigm, the project aims to: 1) create a supportive and culturally responsive learning/working environment for both students and faculty; 2) make teaching and learning rewarding and fulfilling experiences; and 3) emphasize the assets of our community to enhance motivation, excellence, and success. Currently, many STEM educators have a mental model of the education system as a pipeline or pathway, and this factory-like model requires standard inputs, expecting students to come prepared with certain knowledge and skills [4]. When the educational system is viewed as a factory assembly line (as shown in Figure 1), interventions are focused on fixing the inputs by trying to increase students’ preparedness, which contributes to a prevailing deficit-focused mindset. This not only hinders student growth but also makes educational institutions less inclusive and teaching less rewarding for faculty. Increasingly, equity-minded educators and researchers employing the framework of community cultural wealth suggest that we need an asset-based mindset if we are to help all students achieve success in STEM. Research on ecosystem models offers a new way of thinking. In contrast to pipelines or pathways, which focus on student outcomes, an ecosystem model is centered on the learning environment, communities, and the experiences that diverse students, faculty, and staff have in the system as active agents. The Eco-STEM project proposes to: 1) shift the mental models of STEM faculty from factory- based to ecosystem-based so that they will intentionally establish healthy classroom ecosystems that facilitate learning for all students regardless of their backgrounds; 2) change the mental models and develop the capacity of department chairs and program coordinators so they can lead the cultural changes needed to create a healthy ecosystem at the department level; and 3) revise the teaching evaluation system to promote faculty development and enhance the student experience, which will help to create a healthy ecosystem at the institution. One fundamental aspect of this project is the Eco-STEM Faculty Fellows Community of Practice (CoP), which is designed to help foster these changes. As a work-in-progress paper, this paper presents the design and structure of the Eco-STEM Faculty Fellows CoP and seeks input from the faculty development community on our approach to fostering a healthy educational ecosystem for the majority marginalized student population we serve.more » « less
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Abstract This paper describes a Human‐Centred Learning Analytics (HCLA) design approach for developing learning analytics (LA) dashboards for K‐12 classrooms that maintain both contextual relevance and scalability—two goals that are often in competition. Using mixed methods, we collected observational and interview data from teacher partners and assessment data from their students' engagement with the lesson materials. This DBR‐based, human‐centred design process resulted in a dashboard that supported teachers in addressing their students' learning needs. To develop the dashboard features that could support teachers, we found that a design refinement process that drew on the insights of teachers with varying teaching experience, philosophies and teaching contexts strengthened the resulting outcome. The versatile nature of the approach, in terms of student learning outcomes, makes it useful for HCLA design efforts across diverse K‐12 educational contexts.
Practitioner notes What is already known about this topic
Learning analytics that are aligned to both a learning theory and learning design support student learning.
LA dashboards that support users to understand the associated learning analytics data provide actionable insight.
Design‐based research is a promising methodology for Human‐Centred Learning Analytics design, particularly in the K‐12 educational context.
What this paper adds
Leveraging a longstanding, yet fluid, research‐practice partnership is an effective design‐based research adaptation for addressing the high variation in instructional practices that characterize K‐12 education.
Using both quantitative and qualitative data that reflects students' developing knowledge effectively supports teachers' inquiry into student learning.
Teachers' use of learning analytics dashboards is heavily influenced by their perspectives on teaching and learning.
Implications for practice and/or policy
Impact on student learning outcomes, alongside usability and feasibility, should be included as a necessary metric for the effectiveness of LA design.
LA dashboard developers should both leverage learning data that reflect students' developing knowledge and position teachers to take responsive pedagogical action to support student learning.
LA researchers and developers should utilize a long‐term, yet fluid, research‐practice partnership to form a multi‐stakeholder, multidisciplinary design team for Human‐Centred Learning Analytics design.
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Abstract This inquiry examined the pedagogical practices in mathematics of elementary teachers (
N = 27) who had been identified as experienced and successful and were working in an urban school district with underserved student populations. Also investigated were relationships between their instructional practices and other elements of proficient teaching of mathematics, including specialized content knowledge and beliefs. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected via a knowledge assessment, belief surveys, classroom observations, and individual interviews. The findings related to learner‐centered, equitable mathematics instruction reveal a mixed picture of understanding and enactment by the participants, illuminating variability and complexity, especially within the context of a standardized model for instructional delivery. Participants expressed constraints in implementing learner‐centered, equitable mathematics instruction, particularly: prescribed, scripted lesson plans; teaching roles that involved instruction of many students thus contributing to lack of familiarity; and a mix of learners who were in‐class and remote due to the COVID‐19 pandemic. The results also demonstrate that pedagogical practices were shaped by participants’ specialized content knowledge and to a more limited extent their beliefs. These data further reveal mixed endorsements of the different belief constructs. Considerations for teacher development are discussed.
- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1007/s40753-022-00200-0
