Sexual and Reproductive Health in the Developing World
Using Computers to Explore the Universe
Cities in an Environmental Context
Fostering Innovations in Math and Science Teaching
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Fostering Innovations in Math and Science Teaching
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Victor J. Donnay |
The Math and Science Partnership of Greater Philadelphia (MSPGP), now in its fourth year, has ambitious goals: to improve student access to, and achievement in, challenging mathematics and science courses; to improve the quality, quantity and diversity of the teacher workforce; and to investigate how to perform these tasks effectively. The partnership, funded by a $12.5 million, five-year grant from the National Science Foundation, focuses on grades 6 through 12 and encompasses faculty from 13 local colleges and universities plus 46 area school districts.
Besides yielding insights that can help secondary math and science teachers, the program — one of more than 70 NSF-funded partnerships nationwide — is uncovering pedagogical techniques that can be applied at the college and university level, says Bryn Mawr Professor of Mathematics Victor J. Donnay, a co-principal investigator of the MSPGP grant.
Previous efforts to improve elementary and secondary math and science education have not included college and university faculty, Donnay notes. "Faculty members from higher-education institutions were not aware of some of the new initiatives going on in the school districts. In some ways, the secondary teachers were more advanced than the college teachers."
Educational Initiatives
A "very exciting initiative" to emerge from the MSPGP effort, Donnay says, was a yearlong pedagogy seminar that brought together 16 faculty members from Bryn Mawr and Haverford plus eight secondary-school teachers. The seminar offered a forum for sharing educational methods based on research into how students learn.
The new techniques involve more student inquiry and hands-on "discovery learning," Donnay explains. One innovation is "formative assessment," in which the teacher gauges what students know and adjusts the lesson to close the gaps (in contrast to a typical exam's "summative" approach, in which answers are merely graded as right or wrong). Instructors also train students to evaluate their own learning and adjust their studying as needed, Donnay says. In one science course, he explains, a teacher asked students to prepare review sheets and then exchange papers so they could critique each other's understanding of the material. "The peer assessment helps them think about what constitutes a complete answer," he notes.
Bryn Mawr's chemistry department has adopted a new textbook developed with input from the American Chemical Society in which standard material is preceded by a real-world problem that puts the information in context. The book takes a "spiral approach" to the material, in which a previously introduced concept or method is revisited later on. The technique aims to alleviate a classic instructor frustration, Donnay notes: "We think we've taught students something in one course, but by the time they get to the next-level course, they barely remember that it's been taught, much less what it's about."
At Bryn Mawr, Donnay and two of his students are assisting Hepburn Fellow Karen Stephenson, whose research aims to identify the key individuals in a social network. "As we try to bring about change in educational systems, these are the best people to disseminate information," Donnay explains. In a pilot project, Stephenson will work with several MSPGP school districts to map and analyze the networks of their administrators to help the districts operate more effectively.
A challenge facing the partnership stems from the disconnect between the project's focus versus the emphasis on "adequate yearly progress," as measured by standardized test scores, mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. "There is great pressure to focus teaching on material that's going to be on the test, and not on the higher-level thinking skills that we at the college level — and businesses — want students to have," Donnay laments. The MSPGP has included the business community and state government officials in meetings that have raised the issue, he says. "The business community is an important voice for higher-level thinking skills," Donnay notes.
Training Future Faculty
Use of the new teaching methods in college courses is likely to improve undergraduates' understanding of the material. But there are also potential longer-term benefits, Donnay notes. Today's undergraduate math and science majors may become tomorrow's secondary-school math and science teachers. "If future teachers experience these approaches as learners," Donnay says, "it will help them as teachers. It may be years before we see all the impacts of the project."
In "Changing Pedagogies in Math and Science Education," a course Donnay teaches in the College's Praxis program, students observe secondary teachers trying new approaches in their classrooms and assess "how this is playing out in real life," he says. "Empowering Learners," a Praxis course developed by Alice Lesnick and Jody Cohen, senior lecturers in Bryn Mawr's education program, examines how students learn in one-on-one sessions with teaching assistants or tutors. Students in the course have the option of being paired with Bryn Mawr staff, with each member of the pair teaching something to the other. Professor of Mathematics Helen G. Grundman teaches a course for graduate students on the pedagogy of math instruction, focusing on students' future roles as college instructors.
The MSPGP partners hope their collaboration will extend beyond the life of the NSF grant. They are investigating ways "to institutionalize the new initiatives so they will continue," Donnay notes. "Bringing about changes in education is a complex problem." While the short-term emphasis of No Child Left Behind has proved challenging, he says, "In some areas, we see great progress."
Barbara Spector writes on science and technology as well as business topics. She is the editor-in-chief of Family Business magazine and former editor of The Scientist.