Active Learning Summer Workshop

The workshop will focus on approaches to implement active learning in gateway courses. The notion of active learning is promoted by Laursen and Rasmussen (2019) and AMATYC IMPACT’s four pillars of PROWESS. We will explore the following active learning guiding principles from the NSF-Funded AMATYC Teaching for PROWESS project:

1. Students’ deep engagement in mathematical thinking (PRoficiency)

2. Instructors’ interest in and use of student thinking (OWnership)

3. Student-to-student interaction (Engagement)

4. Instructors’ attention to equitable and inclusive practices (Student Success)

How to help students make sense of mathematical ideas and cultivate a mindset for productive mathematics learning is paramount in any mathematics course. As such, the workshop will involve

• Experiencing active learning from a student perspective, then reflecting on the learning from an instructor’s perspective using the OPAL: Observation Protocol for Active Learning framework;

• Reflecting on lesson design and implementation so that participants can create their own lessons in the future focused on rich mathematical tasks;

• Facilitating these tasks using meaningful mathematics discourse, paying particular attention to communication (teacher-to-student and student-to-student) and critiquing the reasoning of other students; and

• Supporting all students with diverse backgrounds and mathematical preparation through equitable and inclusive teaching practices.

Overall the training hinges on the works of:

• Building Thinking Classrooms, by Peter Liljedahl,

• The 5 Practices for Orchestrating Productive Mathematics Discussions, by Smith and Stein, and

• The Observation Protocol for Active Learning, by April Strom and Scott Adamson.
  
  

Since active learning by itself is not enough to improve instructional practice, the workshop will also explore how to engage levers for change to modernize the mathematics curriculum.

Reference

Laursen, S. L., Rasmussen, C. (2019). I on the prize: Inquiry approaches in undergraduate mathematics. International Journal of Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education, (5), 1-18.