About RMP

Project Details

What is the Reconnect Mathematics Project? The U.S. National Science Foundation supported State-wide Professional Development to Promote Active Learning in Mathematics for Michigan Community Colleges pilot project (2024-2028, NSF grant # 2413207), informally the Reconnect Mathematics Project (RMP), aims to serve the national interest by improving mathematics instruction at community colleges in the state of Michigan through professional development on research-based effective teaching practices. The project is a collaboration between Kellogg Community College and the Michigan Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (MichMATYC) with the goal to provide a foundation to support activities focused on implementing these teaching practices in mathematics. Specifically, RMP brings together six community college teams of mathematics faculty from across Michigan. These teams will be immersed in activities focused on implementing active learning pedagogical guiding principles and will be supported to work towards transforming their mathematics courses. RMP seeks to align with state-level goals to provide equitable and inclusive learning opportunities across the two-year college landscape. Ultimately, this project will engage mathematics faculty in the effort to increase access and broaden participation in STEM academic pathways.

Three objectives provide a framework for project implementation:

• Increase Michigan two-year college mathematics instructors' awareness and use of evidence-based instruction.

• Provide mentorship to faculty to support implementation of active learning strategies.

• Explore relationships between instructors' self-efficacy for active learning and its implementation in mathematics courses.

To achieve these objectives, college teams will be supported with up to $25,000 over 2.5 years to propose and implement a project that will promote and sustain active learning in at least one gateway mathematics course that is directly impacted by the Michigan Reconnect program. During this period, teams will also engage in two training programs on active learning, mentoring and peer observation, and a state-wide community of faculty learners through Teaching Squares. Three Teaching Squares of mathematics faculty will be formed in addition to the development of an instrument to assess community college faculty self-efficacy for active learning. A formative and summative evaluative process will be utilized to guide the project toward meeting its goals and outcomes. Overall, the project seeks to generate knowledge that will support similar efforts at two-year colleges across the nation. Project outcomes will be disseminated locally, regionally, and nationally. 

(RMP is under the NSF IUSE: Innovation in Two-Year College STEM Education (ITYC) Program , which seeks to accelerate the impact of and advance knowledge about emerging and evidence-based practices in undergraduate STEM education at two-year colleges.)