Math departments are grappling with how they should update their courses to meet the future needs of their students, while also trying to attend to new realities in student preparation, faculty mindset, evidence-based instructional practices, and unknown future funding opportunities. In this PEP, we suggest that the alignment of frameworks, reports, and calls to action on teaching and learning from professional organizations representing STEM faculty suggest that we should be seeking to increase our students' curiosity about the interrelatedness of mathematics and adjacent disciplines, make connections between theoretical ideas and applications, and help students create valuable learning experiences by solving problems on issues they care about.
This PEP program offers actionable takeaways to enhance faculty teaching effectiveness, a sense of excitement through perception-taking, and student success. Key takeaways from the program include:
1. Interdisciplinary, Research-Based Instructional Frameworks: Participants will learn evidence-based teaching strategies grounded in cognitive science and social-emotional learning (SEL) proven to improve student engagement, retention, and math performance. The interdisciplinary nature of this instructional RR2PG (Reducing Research to Practice in Teaching) framework helps faculty reduce the gap between the research on human learning and math teaching practices in higher education classrooms.
2. Personalized Professional Development Plans (PDPs): Participants will create and refine professional development plans (PDPs) with SMART goals that align personal teaching objectives with broader departmental and institutional goals. This personalized approach fosters professional growth, leading to increased job satisfaction as faculty witness measurable progress in their teaching and student success.
3. Innovative, Empathy-Centered Teaching Model: Participants will be introduced to new teaching strategies aimed at enhancing student motivation and a sense of belonging while fostering active learning through the intentional implementation of evidence-based instructional strategies. Participants will recognize the cognitive biases that experts have in their domains, including the expert-to-novice perception gap grounded on the presenter’s empathy-based 3C (Compassionate Math Teaching & Learning in a Connected Community) framework through a Rutgers fellowship program.
By participating in this program, faculty will not only enhance their teaching but also contribute to a culture of innovation and continuous improvement in pedagogy. Faculty will leave the program with a concrete action plan for their professional enhancement, ensuring that they remain engaged and fulfilled in their roles. The integration of cognitive science and SEL-based strategies is designed to improve student success, leading to higher pass rates, as demonstrated in the presenter's interdisciplinary math course at Rutgers. The collaborative nature of the workshop will also increase faculty satisfaction by providing a supportive space for reflection, peer feedback, and mutual mentoring.
