Teaching Interventions

The interventions, incorporating research on women's learning in mathematics, are designed to create a community of students engaged in collaborative problem-solving and other activities (both in class and in a separate support group), enhanced by an associated section of UNIV 101, an orientation class.

The Focused Interest Group (FIG) for women in mathematics was publicized (see FIG advertisement) extensively before and during registration. As with regular Calculus I classes, students were required to pass the mathematics placement test at A-level to qualify for admission into the FIG. In addition to listing the FIG in the course schedule book, we took more proactive steps, making flyers about the program available at orientation events and in appropriate offices. We even called eligible students to see if they were interested in the special calculus course. College academic advisors were urged to encourage entering women who planned to take Calculus I to enroll as well. Ultimately, thirteen women self-selected or were placed in the intervention by the College advising office. All the freshmen women in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences who passed the placement test at A-level were enrolled in the special FIG.

For legal reasons, the FIG was open to all students, but, as we anticipated, the emphasis on women's issues discouraged males from enrolling. This is the case for most Women's Studies classes at NIU. The grant staff was primarily female, offering students role models and experts in the ways women learn; however, given the results of the Potsdam study, both male and female professors had opportunities to work with the women. According to the Potsdam study, the instructor's accessibility and teaching techniques were better indicators than their sex of women students' success in their classes (Hart, 1992). In light of the limited number of women who teach calculus in the NIU Department of Mathematical Sciences, we asked a male professor to teach the intervention section because he showed great interest in and ability to contribute to the project. The presence of mathematics education personnel as well as one of the Department of Mathematical Sciences' most talented calculus professors ensured that our goals were met.

The Calculus I instructor drew on existing research in developing appropriate teaching strategies for the class. The central focus of the course was to establish a community based on our knowledge of how women learn best. The curriculum humanized mathematics; mathematical concepts were placed in context through problems that connected to students' interests, experiences, and relationships. Such contexts included world population growth, populations of endangered species, disposal of radioactive waste, spread of infectious disease, rate of absorption of drugs into the bloodstream, concentrations of pollutants in lakes and rivers, and inflation rates for car air bags.

The teacher listened more than in a traditional classroom, and the students talked more. In this inquiry approach, the teacher guided students through a process of discovering mathematical concepts for themselves so that mathematics made sense to them. The learning environment was less competitive and more collaborative than in traditional Calculus classes. The teacher used small groups in order for students to communicate with each other about mathematics and to clarify or justify their thinking. Thus, students talked about how they solved problems and received feedback from other students as well as the teacher.

The students also wrote narratives describing how and why they used certain problem-solving strategies. These narratives included explanations and mathematical computations. Other writing assignments asked students to discuss current statistics or polls in the newspaper in order to show their understanding of course principles. Alternative forms of assessment, such as journals and self-critiques, were used as well. Finally, students were empowered as learners when they were asked to critique the course and text at certain important junctures. By learning mathematics in this way, students gained a conviction that they could and did understand the subject. This empowerment contributed to their confidence and success.

In the orientation course, UNIV 101, the instructor focused on issues particularly pertinent to women and helped to develop a support group. Students learned how to read a mathematics book and how to organize their study. In a weekly one-hour workshop, students collaborated in solving enrichment problems (using more in-depth investigation) in addition to those assigned in the calculus class. Notable women spoke on campus, acting as role models. During the first year, these included Mae Jamison, the astronaut, and Carol Lacampagne, Director of the Mathematical Sciences Education Board of the National Research Council.

To learn more about women's achievements in mathematics, students also viewed videos on famous women in the field. Additional enrichment occurred when the women in the FIG went on a field trip to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago and attended a performance of the Tony award-winning play, "Proof," about a woman mathematician. They also read the play beforehand in UNIV 101.

The instructor for the course, Jill Shahverdian, a Ph.D. student in mathematics, acted as a mentor for the women, along with the calculus instructor and the project's co-PIs. She explained:

I encouraged the students to work collaboratively and assist each other, instruct each other, and discuss. I was the moderator, asking an individual or a group to present their work to other students. We worked problems that traditionally appear on exams but rarely on homework—problems that pushed the limit of student understanding to rebuild deficiencies, problems that stretched their concepts of theorems, problems that required use of mathematical language, and problems that encouraged the development of complications that they might not have thought of on their own.

Students continue to meet, enjoy each other's company, and provide support for each other now that they are in Calculus II.

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See Results of the Teaching Interventions