WESTFIELD – Westfield State University mathematics professors Julian Fleron, Philip Hotchkiss, Volker Ecke and Christine von Renesse have been awarded a $550,600 grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to support an innovative approach to teaching mathematics to non-mathematics and science students.
The grant, titled “Discovering the Art of Mathematics (DAoM): Inquiry-Based Learning in Mathematics for Liberal Arts,” supports the development of a library of 10 full-length, stand-alone text books, student and teacher resource guides and assessment tools for Mathematics for Liberal Arts (MLA) courses. It is the professors’ hope DAoM will help more people realize that while mathematics is practical, it can also be approached creatively and artistically serving as a bridge between the STEM fields and the arts and humanities.
MLA is a genre of college-level, general education mathematics courses for students whose majors do not require a particular mathematics course like calculus, algebra or statistics. It is one of the fastest growing college mathematics populations. While four-year college mathematics enrollments have increased by 15 percent from 1990-2005, four-year college MLA enrollments have increased more than 66 percent. (Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences, 2007)
Traditionally, MLA audiences are taught in a lecture style that can be disconnected from the students’ academic interests. Teaching these students can be challenging as well because they have different degrees of preparation and abilities and often come to class with a history of negative experiences with mathematics.
With this opportunity, the team wants to change the student experience by setting a tone for discovery and exploration of mathematics.
Westfield State alumna and criminal justice major Jessica Pendleton ’12 of Worcester, observes, “Before taking Mathematical Explorations: Geometry I hated everything about “math”. However, ‘Explorations’ was interesting, engaging, and employed a hands-on approach to learning. I found myself wanting to go to class each week, feeling not only accomplished, but excited about what I was learning. It opened my eyes and showed me that mathematics is more than just numbers and equations; math is conceptual, artistic, and worth exploring further.”
Pendleton’s experience led to the cover of Mathematics Teacher journal. While constructing an original sliceform of her own design, Pendleton noticed the new Metropol Parasol building in Seville, Spain was itself a sliceform. She shared this information with her class. Because a paper based on these class activities was due to be published in the Geometry Focus Issue of the Mathematics Teacher, Pendleton’s discovery was shared with the editor who decided to use it as the artwork for the cover of this issue.
“Our students are modern day explorers who will be active participants in our global society. They need tools to be able to process and analyze information, make decisions and solve problems in many different areas. Our program provides an inquiry-based learning experience that sets them on the path to function and think creatively in a rapidly changing world,” said Fleron.
The materials that make up the Discovering the Art of Mathematics library and its inquiry-based learning approach provide a unique alternative. Teachers have access to concrete, successfully tested materials to help make learning in their classrooms more student-centered. Students find a new world of mathematics, one where they are actively involved, where they are responsible for their learning, where they have been entrusted to investigate real mathematics, and where they find opportunities to bridge science and liberal arts.
“It should no longer be culturally acceptable to say, ‘I’m bad at math.’ You would never go to a party and say, ‘I can’t read’,” said Fleron.
The current grant is Phase 2 of the DAoM initiative begun in 2009, whose purpose was to demonstrate merit and impact. Since then, more than 1,000 students have used DAoM. The current phase of the grant will enable the researchers to evaluate the materials when they are used by more than 3,000students and more than 300 faculty. Professional development workshops, offered in conjunction with the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges, will successfully integrate outreach efforts with the further development of teacher materials and assessment tools, recruitment of reviewers and beta-testers, and dissemination efforts.
Currently, the text books and resource materials are available online at no charge in order to help DAoM have the broadest impact possible and to transform the way mathematics for liberal arts is taught and learned. Evaluation of the project will be conducted by SageFox Consulting Group of Amherst, Mass.
DAoM is resonating beyond Westfield State. Original research that is part of the content in the series has been published in six peer-reviewed journals to date. The authors also have been invited to serve as guest editors for a special volume on inquiry-based learning in MLA for the journal PRIMUS, a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the teaching of undergraduate mathematics.
According to David Farmer, Director of Programs at the American Institute of Mathematics and advisory board member to DAoM, “This project will help address a shortcoming in current education: math for students who have a non-technical major. If you aren’t able to think mathematically, then you run the risk of being left behind. I expect DAoM to play a leading role in improving MLA education nationwide.”
Only 32 NSF grants were approved out of 330 submitted. This is the largest NSF grant in the university’s history.
“The collaborative nature of the grant and what it represents – a bridge between science and the humanities – reflect the inclusive nature of innovation taking place in the world around us,” said Evan S. Dobelle, president, Westfield State University. “The project is topical, timely and responsive to the demands of the twenty-first century. Most importantly, it reflects the superior dedication and quality of our faculty.”
To read the text books or for more information, please visit http://www.artofmathematics.westfield.ma.edu.
