Historically, U.S. higher education faculty in the mathematical sciences have received little formal preparation for teaching, often no more than a few hours of professional development in the week before classes begin. Similarly, despite the important roles they play in undergraduate mathematics education, little attention has been focused on preparation of graduate student teaching assistants (GTAs) for the classroom. The nature of this preparation also varies widely: some universities have well-established programs for GTA professional development for teaching (PDT) while others have no program at all. This stands in stark contrast to preparation of elementary and secondary teachers who complete courses focused on teaching methods and supervised student teaching experiences and who participate in PDT throughout their careers. When this project began, most university faculty described the entirety of their preparation for teaching as some variation of this story: "In graduate school, when I became a TA someone gave me a textbook, syllabus, and a room assignment and told me that classes start on Monday."

In 2014, we conducted a survey of U.S. mathematics departments and found considerable interest in developing programs for GTA PDT. However, interested faculty (we call them Providers) often found it difficult to locate materials or to obtain advice from experienced Providers. This situation was strikingly similar to the earlier situation with new GTAs: a member of the department is assigned to offer PDT to graduate students and is told when and where the course will meet. And in this case, there wasn’t even a textbook for them to refer to and it is likely that the faculty member never took a course like this when they were a TA. 

The purpose of this project, "Improving the Preparation of Graduate Students to Teach Undergraduate Mathematics" (now known as the College Mathematics Instructor Development Source (CoMInDS)), is to address this by developing a freely available online resource of materials housed by the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) and to offer professional development to Providers of GTA PDT.  Since 2016, we have offered nine three-day workshops to help Providers develop PDT programs and have created a community of practice to sustain these efforts.  The online Resource Suite has more than 130 entries (e.g., activities, assignments, readings).  We originally planned to offer two workshops for a total of 48 participants. However, each year there were more applications than available spots. Because of this demand, we obtained funding for seven additional workshops. To date, a total of 267 faculty members have participated in one of our workshops. These faculty are from 121 institutions (master degree and Ph.D granting), representing about 48% of the U.S mathematics Ph.D programs.   

During the workshops, participants learn to design a successful graduate student professional development program, gain familiarity with research and evaluation related to teaching and instructor preparation, gain access to a large collection of lessons, activities, and assignments to use in their program and become familiar with activities designed specifically for use with graduate students teaching undergraduate mathematics. Built into the schedule is time for participants to plan and get input from experienced providers and to network with others who run GTA PDT programs. The external evaluator reported, "Participants valued networking with other TA PD providers, sharing knowledge about their practice, and learning about topics important to TA PD. Most perceived the CoMInDs resource suite to be a useful resource. They rated the workshop highly for providing rich and relevant information, and noted that it was well-organized and carefully planned. They hoped to continue to interact with other providers but acknowledged they would need structures and prodding to do so."

Intellectual Merit:  This project addressed the critical need to improve student learning opportunities in undergraduate mathematics by enhancing GTA PDT.  There now exists a professional community of practice of experienced PDT providers, educational researchers and a leading professional organization to support and sustain these efforts. A toolkit of online resources together with workshops and webinars equip community members to develop and deliver research-based PDT. A rigorous, comprehensive project evaluation has also contributed to the intellectual merit by identifying effective aspects of the project’s approach to preparing graduate students to teach undergraduate mathematics.

Broader Impacts:  Having involved faculty from 121 mathematics departments, the project has impacted teaching done by graduate students during their years of graduate study at those institutions and in their subsequent careers. The CoMInDS workshops and resource suite will continue to support, sustain and improve the work of Providers of PDT. Providers who have participated in CoMInDS activities will improve the teaching of thousands of graduate students, many of whom will teach thousands of undergraduates during their careers. In recent years, faculty from other STEM disciplines have also attended the workshops, further extending impacts of the project on graduate students and the undergraduates they teach. 

Last Modified: 11/21/2023
Modified by: Jack Bookman