Jacqueline M. Dewar

An Overview of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Mathematics

Abstract This article provides an overview of the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) in mathematics. It describes the origins of SoTL in higher education and distinguishes SoTL from good teaching, scholarly teaching, and mathematics education research. It includes a widely adopted taxonomy of SoTL questions and presents several examples of SoTL questions that have been investigated and made public. The heart of the article is a specific example of how a “teaching problem” can launch a SoTL investigation. The article also considers the value of SoTL to individual faculty, their departments, and their institutions. It closes with additional resources and suggestions for pursuing SoTL in mathematics.

Group Projects and Civic Engagement in a Quantitative Literacy Course

Abstract We describe our approach to incorporating a civic engagement component into a quantitative literacy (QL) course and the resulting gains in student learning, confidence, and awareness of local civic issues. We revised the existing QL course by including semester-long group projects involving local community issues that students could investigate using the mathematical topics of the course. Compared to students in the standard QL course, students in the projects-based course performed similarly on all topics on the post-test except one, and significantly better on that one topic. They showed increased awareness of community issues, gained confidence in their ability to respond to mathematical situations using course material, and reported learning non-mathematical skills.

Recruitment and Retention of Students in Undergraduate Mathematics.

Pat Kenschaft is professor of mathematics at Montclair State College, where she has taught since earning her Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in functional analysis. She is Chair of the MAA Committee on Participation of Women and was organizer, chair, and editor of the January, 1987 panel on which this article is based. Author of numerous research papers about women, blacks, and careers in mathematics, she has also written several college textbooks. She currently leads programs to develop mathematics education in elementary schools. Mother of two grown offspring and wife of Fred Chichester, she is an avid organic gardener.

Doing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Mathematics

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) movement encourages faculty to view teaching “problems” as invitations to conduct scholarly investigations. In this growing field of inquiry faculty bring their disciplinary knowledge and teaching experience to bear on questions of teaching and learning. They systematically gather evidence to develop and support their conclusions. The results are to be peer reviewed and made public for others to build on.

Teaching Students About Women and Mathematics: An Interview with Two Course Designers

Women in mathematics have made great strides during the last 100+ years. During this same period, educators, historians, and mathematicians have publicized the accomplishments of some of these women in order to provide role models to show that women can and do succeed in mathematics. As a part of this effort, faculty began offering entire courses on women and mathematics at the college level. In this chapter we describe our motivations for designing and teaching such courses. Using a series of interrelated questions formatted as an interview with two course designers, we highlight commonalities and differences in our approaches to teaching about women and mathematics. We also explore ways to teach about women and mathematics on a smaller scale, rather than as an entire course. For those who would like to adopt or adapt one of these approaches, we discuss benefits and challenges and provide references to our own and other courses on women and mathematics.

Celebrating the Contributions of Three Women to Mathematics Teaching and Learning

This chapter celebrates the lives and accomplishments of three women mathematics educators whom the author has had the privilege to know. The three women are Ruth Afflack (California State University Long Beach), Natalie Ambrose (Immaculate Heart High School), and Teri Perl (The Learning Company), two of whom were highly engaged in the Association for Women in Mathematics during its early years. All three were mathematics teachers at some point in their lives, but all three were also agents of change. This chapter summarizes many of their professional accomplishments and the impacts of their outreach and activism during the latter half of the 20th century and encourages readers to reflect on the contributions of the mathematics educators they have known.

Opening Lines: An Introduction to the Volume

In this opening chapter, the editors set the stage for the wide-ranging description and discussion of work in mathematics education awaiting readers of this volume. They define how the phrase “work in mathematics education” is to be understood for this volume and explain how the 25 chapters are grouped according to intended beneficiaries of the work. The editors describe the genesis of the book: how the idea arose in June 2015 and how it was intended to be an extension of the conversation that would take place at the 2016 Joint Mathematics Meetings panel on “Work in Mathematics Education in Departments of Mathematical Sciences,” co-sponsored by the Association for Women in Mathematics (AWM) Education Committee and the American Mathematical Society Committee on Education. To entice the reader to explore the volume, the editors highlight some of the contents and note common themes and connections among the chapters. This chapter also summarizes the multi-stage process that brought the idea for this book to fruition so that the reader may understand the selection and peer review process. As many of the chapters do, this one closes with a final reflection by its authors on their involvement in this project.