This project addresses previously-identified widespread student difficulties within mathematics and related quantitative skills preventing successful completion of introductory economics courses by large numbers of students. The approach taken is adaptation for economics of proven web-based student quantitative skills tutorials and assessment framework developed for the Geosciences: The Math You Need (TMYN), When You Need It, developed by Wenner, Baer, & Burn in a succession of three NSF (DUE) awards. Deployment of this framework has led to improved student learning in a variety of instructional settings.
Intellectual merit: The importance of learning in context is particularly applicable to students in introductory economics courses, where research has shown that many students are not able to transfer previously-studied general mathematics concepts to their application in economics. The focus is on ten core math concepts highlighted in the economics education literature as frequent obstacles to student learning. For each of these concepts, an online TMYN-Economics module is being developed using the research-based TMYN design that has succeeded in the Geosciences. Each module includes: (1) a Foundation page for students that includes information on the mathematics concept and why and how it is used in the discipline; (2) a Sample Problems page that gives students the opportunity to practice the math concept in the context of economics before taking an embedded online quiz to assess their learning; and (3) an Instructor Page that explains why that module's mathematics concept is difficult for students to apply in the discipline and provides additional resources for teaching the module's mathematics concept in context.
Broader impact: After initial testing at twelve varied institutions (including an HBCU and six community colleges), ten learning modules will be available through Starting Point: Teaching and Learning Economics, co-located with sixteen pedagogical modules already developed and used extensively by economics instructors. Adoption at community colleges is an important focus of this project. This will be promoted through resources developed by adapting Effective Outreach and Workshop Practices to Improve Community College Economics Instruction. Recommendations from twelve field-testers and the advisory board will be used to improve TMYN-Economics modules before they are publicly disseminated. The embedded online module quizzes will generate a new, large dataset on student learning based on students' module quiz performance. These data will facilitate further investigation of student learning of math skills in economic contexts. An international leader on improvement of student learning through innovation and knowledge sharing has agreed to provide external review of these assessments and overall project impact. Both the assessment data and the modules will become a permanent resource at the Science Education Resource Center (SERC) within the Starting Point: Teaching and Learning Economics web site, with ongoing maintenance and oversight by SERC staff.
