Supporting the Development of Mathematics Preservice Teachers’ Critical Consciousness through Statistical Investigations of Systemic Racism

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving curricula in mathematics and statistics education. As an IUSE Engaged Student Learning Level 1 project, it brings together a cross-institutional team to design and implement two modules to promote statistical reasoning using real transportation data from traffic stops and school administrative data from disciplinary cases.

The modules will be designed to support secondary preservice mathematics teachers’ development of critical thinking in the context of public and school safety issues. Additionally, this work aims to allow preservice teachers to better support and advocate for the students in their secondary mathematics classes, especially students who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color.

The modules will support the preservice teachers’ statistical literacy and expose them to data science, which is becoming increasingly important to prepare students for STEM careers of the future. The project has potential to contribute to the knowledge base in teacher preparation and curriculum design by focusing on developing and implementing novel instructional methods to engage undergraduate preservice teachers in learning statistics concepts and practices.

This work also extends to providing mathematics teacher educators with curricular modules for use with preservice teachers.

The two goals of this cross-institutional project from University of North Carolina Charlotte, Pacific Lutheran University, and University of Houston include: (i) design and implement two data modules to engage preservice teachers in thinking statistically and discussing systems of injustice, namely systemic racism, and (ii) develop and refine instructor guides that focus on helping mathematics teacher educators implement these modules. The Curriculum Research Framework (Clements, 2007) will guide the development, testing, and refinement of the modules and instructor guides.

Statistical software (CODAP and R) will be used in the module activities to engage preservice teachers in analyzing large publicly available datasets. Instructor guides will help navigate the context, content, software, and possible preservice teacher resistance as they engage in difficult conversations about race. The guides will outline critical incidents (Tripp, 1993) that instructors can leverage to develop preservice teachers’ understanding about systemic racism.

Project outcomes, materials, and resources will be shared through a website, conferences, workshops, and publications. The project will benefit the STEM education community by preparing statistically literate STEM teachers with a deeper understanding of how race operates in society and education. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students.

Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the IUSE:EHR Program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. The Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship (Noyce) Program is providing co-funding for this IUSE: EHR project to support the project's preservice teacher preparation goals, which are well-aligned with Noyce Program goals.

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.