Wiley College, a 137 year old, four-year, liberal arts, accredited, private historically black college located in Marshall, TX, has a Targeted Infusion Project that is aiming to transform its mathematics curriculum and increase student achievement in mathematics. The College has grown, increasing its enrollment by approximately 50% since 2002. Its science, technology, engineering and mathematics programs have grown proportionately, but recent analysis points to a disturbing trend: the College's STEM students are not performing at an adequate level in mathematics courses, especially in required first-year courses.
Wiley College will recruit new mathematics faculty with training and experience in developmental and first-year mathematics education and a successful track record of successfully integrating fundamental mathematical concepts into other STEM disciplines. The goals of the project are to: a) transform the developmental and first-year mathematics courses to allow greater student performance in mathematics; b) infuse mathematics topics in the non-mathematics STEM courses, allowing for greater integration of mathematics across all STEM disciplines; c) implement up-to-date pedagogical methods and best practices to attract and engage students in core mathematics courses that provide the foundation for the other sciences; and d) implement improvement in the training of future teachers of mathematics by enhancing the science/mathematics teacher preparation program.
