| NSF Org: |
DRL Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) |
| Recipient: |
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| Initial Amendment Date: | April 14, 2014 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | April 14, 2014 |
| Award Number: | 1356001 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: |
Joseph Reed
DRL Division of Research on Learning in Formal and Informal Settings (DRL) EDU Directorate for STEM Education |
| Start Date: | April 15, 2014 |
| End Date: | March 31, 2018 (Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $260,606.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $260,606.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: |
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| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: |
1101 CAMDEN AVE SALISBURY MD US 21801-6860 (410)543-6066 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: |
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| Primary Place of Performance: |
1101 Camden Ave. Salisbury MD US 21801-6837 |
| Primary Place of
Performance Congressional District: |
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| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): |
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| Parent UEI: |
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| NSF Program(s): |
REAL, Discovery Research K-12 |
| Primary Program Source: |
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| Program Reference Code(s): |
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| Program Element Code(s): |
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| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.076 |
ABSTRACT
PATHWAYS has two primary objectives: (1) To develop mathematics teachers who approach classrooms with a researcher's mindset, making instructional decisions based on empirical data; (2) To engage aspiring mathematics teachers in systematic formal mathematics education research, thereby providing foundations for participation in mathematics education graduate programs. This REU site involves undergraduates in the design and testing of instructional sessions for K-12 students where each summer, eight undergraduates from Salisbury University (SU), University of Maryland Eastern Shore, and Wor-Wic Community College work in pairs under the guidance of SU faculty mentors. Each pair meets with a group of four K-12 students once per week to give summer mathematics instructional sessions. SU faculty mentors help undergraduates analyze the instructional effectiveness of each session. Each week's analysis sets the mathematical learning goals and instructional methods for the next week. Undergraduates submit weekly reports describing K-12 students' learning and a cumulative report describing the trajectory of K-12 students' learning under the instructional interventions they designed. The cumulative reports help test, extend, and refine current mathematics education research on learning trajectories.
Various qualitative data sources used during this project's duration include transcripts of participants' conversations about assigned readings and their scores on online training modules content assessments, video recordings of diagnostic interviews with K-12 students as well as all teaching sessions, and undergraduates' weekly and final summary reports on the progress of the K-12 students. The Undergraduate Research Student Self-Assessment (URSSA) is used at the end of the intensive summer experience to quantitatively analyze the impact of PATHWAYS on undergraduates' development as researchers. Opinion surveys are administered to PATHWAYS undergraduates, the K-12 students they instruct, and the parents of K-12 students to ascertain perceived strengths and weaknesses of the program. The long-term impact of the project is assessed through follow-up surveys inquiring about the graduation status and career goals of those who have completed the PATHWAYS experience.
PATHWAYS reaches multiple communities. The structured manner in which undergraduates work with K-12 students provides experience with formal mathematics education research to encourage future graduate study. The project provides the field of mathematics education student-level data to both support and challenge existing published learning progressions. PATHWAYS serves the local community by providing summer mathematics instruction for children in grades K-12. Project findings aim to provide a more robust understanding of how teachers may help develop children's mathematical thinking under the Common Core State Standards and their dissemination by undergraduates and their SU mentors via conferences and peer-reviewed publications reaches the community of scholars at large.
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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PROJECT OUTCOMES REPORT
Disclaimer
This Project Outcomes Report for the General Public is displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this Report are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation; NSF has not approved or endorsed its content.
PATHWAYS has two complementary objectives: (1) Engaging aspiring teachers in formal mathematics education research, thereby encouraging participation in mathematics education graduate programs; (2) Developing teachers who approach mathematics classrooms with a researcher’s mindset, making instructional decisions by using empirical data about students’ learning. Undergraduate research projects that involve iterative cycles of designing and testing instructional sequences are the primary means of attaining the objectives.
PATHWAYS helped prepare mathematics educators for K-12 schools through the involvement of a total of 26 undergraduates in teacher preparation programs. Working in pairs, and supervised by faculty mentors, the prospective teachers designed and implemented mathematics instruction for K-12 students. Each pair worked with a group of four children over a 10-week span, recording and analyzing data to help optimize instruction to meet children’s learning needs. Through this process, the prospective teachers learned to become more careful assessors of children’s understanding, and the children benefitted from focused and systematic attention to their mathematical learning. Techniques used to analyze classroom data and teach children were published in practitioner-oriented journals such as Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School, Teaching Statistics, and The Clearing House so that other mathematics teachers may employ them. Hence, the impact of PATHWAYS on improving mathematics education extended beyond the prospective teachers involved in the project to include the children they taught as well as mathematics teachers outside the project who can learn of and adopt the techniques for teaching and assessment that were developed.
Undergraduates grew not only as teachers, but also as researchers, during PATHWAYS. Several of their presentations were accepted for refereed conferences; participants made 11 presentations at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, 4 presentations at the annual NSF/Council on Undergraduate Research REU Symposium, and 5 presentations at the National Association for Professional Development Schools Conference. Additional presentations occurred at the Salisbury University Student Research Conference and a sectional meeting of the Mathematical Association of America. Moreover, PATHWAYS undergraduate researchers co-published four papers with their SU faculty mentors in peer-reviewed mathematics education venues. Data from PATHWAYS project assessment reports suggest that such experiences played a role in encouraging undergraduates to pursue graduate study. For example, in a post-project survey, one undergraduate remarked, “After this experience I have a strong intention and desire to go to graduate school to get a master's in math education.” Another stated, “My intended degree is mathematics secondary education. Prior to doing research, I already planned on enrolling in a master’s program in mathematics education. Now, I am considering enrolling in a Ph.D program in the future.” Encouraging individuals to pursue graduate degrees in STEM education fields is an important outcome of the project, since institutions of higher education in the U.S. generally struggle to find enough qualified applicants for their available STEM education positions.
Scholarship produced by PATHWAYS faculty mentors provides additional information about the nature of the project and its impact on the undergraduate researchers and the children they taught. The entire team of SU mentors collaborated with the project evaluator to publish a peer-reviewed manuscript describing the PATHWAYS model and its impact on the first undergraduate cohort. The article appeared in the multi-disciplinary journal Council for Undergraduate Research (CUR) Quarterly. Additional mentor-authored articles described topics such as undergraduates’ identity development during PATHWAYS, the PATHWAYS model for preparing undergraduates to conduct clinical interviews, the nature of children’s learning of probability language during instruction, and how undergraduates’ knowledge for teaching developed as a result of designing and analyzing instruction. Publication venues for mentor scholarship included the journals Mathematical Thinking and Learning, Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, Mathematics Teacher Education and Development, Statistics Education Research Journal, and Mathematics Education. Mentor conference presentations about PATHWAYS occurred at the Joint Meetings of the Mathematical Association of America and the American Mathematical Society, the Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators Annual Conference, the Maryland Council of Teachers of Mathematics Annual Conference, a regional conference of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, a University of Maryland Mathematics Education Colloquium, a Hood College Colloquium, and the Electronic Conference on Teaching Statistics.
A comprehensive account of PATHWAYS products can be found on the project website: www.salisbury.edu/pathways. The site houses the posters, abstracts, and presentation slides for all of the undergraduate research projects. It also contains links to all PATHWAYS articles published in peer-reviewed venues. NSF provided additional funding for PATHWAYS, so this website will continue to grow as the project continues. Future iterations of PATHWAYS continue to aim to produce undergraduates who become highly skilled mathematics teachers as well as aspiring mathematics education researchers.
Last Modified: 04/26/2018
Modified by: Randall E Groth
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