Mathematics serves as a gateway to most STEM majors. As a result, improving college mathematics contributes to preparation of the future STEM workforce. Based on research results, student outcomes in mathematics could be improved by using approaches such as interactive pedagogies, co-requisite courses, and enrichment and support programs. However, entrenched practices and systemic challenges currently limit widespread adoption of these and other promising approaches. This multi-day virtual workshop will develop a comprehensive account of these challenges and begin exploring productive ways to move forward. Leaders and researchers from a broad group of institutions and professional societies will discuss challenges to expanding the reach of high-impact programs. They will share positive outcomes, strategies, and lessons learned and brainstorm how these results can be used to promote equity in the mathematical sciences. A major outcome of the workshop will be a public report detailing the challenges that were identified within the mathematics higher education community. The report will also discuss how addressing those challenges might lead to more positive and equitable student outcomes.
This four-day virtual convening will bring together professional organization and community leaders to share their successes and challenges to achieve three main goals: (1) Sharing successful departmental, institutional, and professional society strategies and programs as a means for improving existing programs; (2) Identifying institutional and individual issues that limit the broader impact of existing strategies and programs; and (3) Formulating recommendations for how to move forward on the institutional and cultural change needed to address the identified issues. Each of the four workshop days will be approximately two to four weeks apart, allowing participants to engage in interim discussions and other work. The first session of the first workshop day will focus on detailing successful departmental, institutional, and professional society strategies and programs, including how equity issues are being addressed. Participants will also discuss approaches to evaluate the reach of programs and benchmarks for moving forward. The remainder of the first day will focus on challenges to scaling programs and identifying forces that keep promising strategies and programs from having a broader impact. The second workshop day will have two working group sessions on systemic barriers, one structured by program type and the second structured across program type. The first session of the third day will focus on models of change that might be effective in different settings and discuss strategies that different participant groups might use to overcome specific challenges. The second session will focus on how the recommendations presented in the workshop report might address the identified challenges across different program types. The final day of the workshop, approximately one month after the third day, will allow participants to discuss and suggest improvements to a draft of the public report. This award is funded through the NSF IUSE: EHR Program, which 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.
