Structuring Equitable Participation in Undergraduate Mathematics Proof Classes

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving students’ experiences in proof-based mathematics classes. These courses are taken by future high school mathematics teachers and mathematics majors. The unique content and features of proof-based courses have the potential to strengthen conceptual connections for mathematics majors, including connections to K-12 mathematics for prospective secondary teachers.

However, these benefits do not always fall equitably to students, and proof-based courses can sometimes serve as a barrier to students’ future STEM careers. This Level II IUSE:EDU Engaged Student Learning track project will facilitate professional development and collaboration with instructors of these courses to design and implement group-work tasks that may support more equitable learning experiences.

The innovation of this professional development will lie in adapting and implementing group-work principles from complex instruction, developed at K-12 levels, to the advanced undergraduate level. The project will also investigate how implementing such group work can alleviate inequities in group-work participation. Thus, the significance of this work will include the development of knowledge and concrete instructional strategies that may support transformation of advanced mathematics classes into more inclusive spaces.

This project builds on a substantial foundation of research illustrating that complex instruction principles and the incorporation of group-worthy tasks can lead to more equitable participation in mathematics classrooms. Using this research foundation as a catalyst, the project will pursue several goals. The first goal is to design, implement, and study workshops to support instructors of proof-based courses in implementing group-worthy tasks in their courses.

A second goal is to build understanding of how design features of group work impact student interactions and can lead to more equitable participation in mathematics classrooms. An additional goal is to disseminate project outcomes and group-work resources at local, regional, and national levels to mathematical sciences departments and other STEM departments working to enhance student learning, success, and equitable classroom participation.

Status hierarchies that exist in social settings often shape student collaborative work. That is, the decision to speak up, ask a question, or offer an idea is not necessarily a direct consequence of what the student knows, but often is an interplay with how they perceive their status in the class as well as how they think their instructor and their peers perceive them.

The project will focus on tasks that intentionally make use of students’ diverse strengths. By properly developing and implementing these tasks, instructors can help override negative status effects and cultivate positive interdependence among students. While these principles have been well established at K-12 levels, little is known about their potential at the advanced undergraduate level.

Through project research and evaluation, the project aims to generate new knowledge to enhance literature and classroom practice related to proof-based courses and equitable group work. Qualitative and quantitative data will be collected from the workshops and subsequent classes, and mixed methods analyses will be conducted to result in a better understanding of how to develop and implement equitable group-worthy tasks and of the overall relationships between tasks, instruction, and group work.

In turn, the outcomes will enable the investigators to build theories on how such group work plays out in the advanced mathematics context. By contributing tasks and models for more equitable group work in proof-based classes, the project will serve as a resource for curriculum developers, instructors, and professional communities of practice. Dissemination will be through local, regional, and national outlets and will include workshops, conference presentations, and peer-reviewed publications.

The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through its Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.

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.