CONTEXTUALIZE TO LEARN: Preparing Faculty Toward Math Contextualization for Student Success in Advanced Technological Education https://c2l.wceruw.org/

Dr. Xueli Wang, PIUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison

National Science Foundation Grant No. DUE-1700625

NSF DUE-1700625

Project Overview

A longitudinal, mixed methods study• faculty engagement and professional

development around math contextualization• impact on student learning and outcomes

ATE students impacted• advanced manufacturing• engineering technologies• biotechnology• construction technology• transportation technology

Partners

NSF DUE-1700625

NSF DUE-1700625

Research Questions

Making Sense

1. How do faculty teaching ATE students math engage with and make sense of professional development activities as part of a community of practice around math contextualization?

2. How do faculty apply contextualization in teaching math?

NSF DUE-1700625

Making Sense

3. What is the effect of math contextualization on students’ interim and longer-term outcomes?

4. How do ATE students in contextualized math courses describe their experiences and motivational beliefs regarding math and overall educational and career success?

Research Questions

NSF DUE-1700625

Making Sense

Community of Practice

Working together as a community:

Create and share resources and lessons• Online• Webinars• Face-to-face meetings

Share progress and plans for next steps Discuss common issues and solutions Collaborate to collect data

NSF DUE-1700625

Collaborative Research

ProfessionalDevelopmentStrand

Research Strand

NSF DUE-1700625

Research Products

Classroom observation instrument

Interview protocols Student survey instrument

NSF DUE-1700625

Longitudinal interviews with faculty• Experiences with PD• Sense making• community building • Plans, experiences, and/or barriers

around using contextualization• Resources needed

Year 2 interview with students

Interview Protocols

NSF DUE-1700625

Classroom Observation Instrument

Math Focus

(MF)

Math with Real-Life Examples

(ME)

Affective Aspects (AA)

Assessment of Learning

(AL)

Class Logistics (CL)

Instructor-Student (IS)

IS-MF codes IS-ME codes IS-AA codes IS-AL codes IS-CL codes

Student-Student (SS)

SS-MF codes SS-ME codes SS-AA codes SS-AL codes SS-CL codes

Instructor-Content (IC)

IC-MF codes IC-ME codes IC-AA codes IC-AL codes IC-CL codes

Student-Content (SC)

SC-MF codes SC-ME codes SC-AA codes SC-AL codes SC-CL codes

• 20 dimensions• 107 unique codes• 2-minute interval• Note classroom setup,

climate, pre- and post-class interactions or dynamics

Substantive Dimensions

Social Dimensions

NSF DUE-1700625

Student Survey Instrument

• Contextualization activities• Learning experiences• Momentum domains cognitive motivational metacognitive

• Prior exposure to contextualization• Student background• Financial and emotional support

NSF DUE-1700625

Findings from Faculty Interviews

Making Sense to Make Change

• Sense-making a complex process• negotiating multiple identities • prior/new knowledge and orientation

• Change-making at instructor level driven by• comfort level as a result of sense-making• external constraints shaped by structures

and responsibilities

Faculty Identities

Orientation

Making Change

MakingSense

Comfort Level

External/Structural Constraints

NSF DUE-1700625

Thank You!

Advisory Panel: Mark Johnson, Wisconsin Technical College System Lisa Seidman, Madison Area Technical CollegeRachael Bower, University of Wisconsin-Madison Matthew Hora, University of Wisconsin-Madison Jane Tanner, Onondaga Community College

Madison College: Zong Her – Co-PIAnn Thompson – Co-PITony Cina, Faculty LeadBethany Sansing-Helton, Faculty Lead

Milwaukee Area Technical College:Yan Wang – Co-PIMona Gauthier – Co-PILarry Gross, Faculty LeadMichael Jenkins, Senior PersonnelAmber Schreve, Faculty Lead

University of Wisconsin-Madison:Xueli Wang – PI (xwang273@wisc.edu)Amy Prevost, Assistant ResearcherKelly Wickersham, Postdoctoral ScholarYen Lee, Graduate AssistantBrit Wagner, Graduate AssistantXiwei Zhu, Graduate Assistant