Susan Ganter and Bill Haver
This issue of the Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations (JMSCE) is the second special volume highlighting the impact of the consortium for Synergistic Undergraduate Mathematics via Multi-institutional Interdisciplinary Teaching Partnerships (SUMMIT-P). The development and goals of SUMMIT-P were outlined in the preface of the first special issue of JMSCE devoted to this project (Ganter & Haver, 2020). Full participation from partner discipline faculty is key to the success of redeveloping introductory mathematics courses in a way that incorporates the contextual needs of the other disciplines. As such, SUMMIT-P’s first task was to find ways to best engage colleagues in the partner disciplines. The first special volume’s preface detailed these recommendations. The seven papers in this second special issue, written two years later in the cycle of the project, describe how the collaborations evolved under specific institutional circumstances while also describing the outcomes and products of the collaboration. The papers also focus on the processes used to support and promote successful interdisciplinary collaboration, including the use of: fishbowl discussions to enable mathematics faculty to understand the perspectives of faculty in partner disciplines; site visits to strengthen collaboration among faculty from different disciplines and different institutions; collaboration protocols to provide a structured format for discussions; faculty learning communities to develop ongoing institutional structures for collaboration; and assessment and evaluation measures to provide a long-term overview of impact at all levels.
Bryan D Poole, Caroline Maher-Boulis, John Hearn, Jason Robinson, Patricia McClung, and Amanda Jones
As a result of the Curriculum Foundations Project and the SUMMIT-P consortium, faculty from four different departments at Lee University created a Faculty Learning Community (FLC) with the goal of improving students’ attitudes toward undergraduate mathematics courses, including students’ perception of the utility of mathematics in their lives and the feelings of anxiety that they experience in these courses. The interdisciplinary collaborations resulted in introducing novel activities and manipulatives in various mathematics courses (Introduction to Statistics, Concepts of Mathematics I and II, and Algebra for Calculus). This paper first describes the efforts of creating the inter-departmental FLC. Second, it discusses the interventions that were introduced in the mathematics courses. Finally, it reflects on the lessons learned while participating in the learning community. The goal is to guide and challenge readers to consider how similar collaborative opportunities can be initiated at their own institutions.
Laura Ellwein-Fix, Afroditi Filippas, Maila Brucal-Hallare, and Rebecca Segal
Student learning across STEM disciplines has been shown to increase with greater integration of applications in mathematics courses. One challenge of this effort is that identical constructs are often presented differently in the partner disciplines than in the mathematics courses. This leads to student confusion and an inability to transfer critical knowledge in their disciplinary courses, even for students who have mastered the mathematical paradigms. An interdisciplinary team at VCU consisting of mathematics and engineering faculty has worked to improve the knowledge transfer required for the integration of applications in the Differential Equations curriculum. This work is part of the multi-institutional SUMMIT-P initiative which aims to transform first- and second-year mathematics through collaboration with partner disciplines. The collaborative efforts have uncovered a variety of differently presented but identical constructs in categories ranging from notation up through higher-level interpretation. We provide some specific examples and analyses of these constructs and the implications for knowledge transfer and pedagogical concerns. Conversations around mathematics and disciplinary imperatives served to create a holistic view of the role mathematics and partner discipline professors have in improving learning outcomes.
Elizabeth Post, Mischelle Stone, Laura Cavner-Williams, and Mary Beaudry
Through the national consortium, SUMMIT-P, Ferris State University faculty collaborated to develop and scaffold mathematics and quantitative reasoning across disciplines to reduce math anxiety. Participants in this collaborative group included faculty from social work, nursing, and mathematics who developed a case study on a Hurricane Katrina scenario that necessitated calculating the need for emergency shelter, water, food, and medicine, and as a response to the potential for a Malaria outbreak. This particular case study allowed faculty to use the lens of social justice to teach mathematical concepts and provided an avenue for nursing and social work students to engage in mathematics through a case study germane to their profession. This article discusses the process of developing this case study and focuses on the successes and challenges faculty and students faced while the parts of the case study were implemented in the varied disciplines. This discussion also includes sidebar contributions from faculty at other SUMMIT-P institutions who have engaged in similar cross-disciplinary collaborations.
Anneke Bart, Michael May, and Debbie Pike
This paper describes the Just-in-Time Review developed for an undergraduate accounting course. The review materials cover five topics in algebra. Students take an online assessment, and online materials are made available to help students catch up in those areas where some review is recommended. This paper is a case study of the development and implementation of the Just-in-Time Review for an accounting course at Saint Louis University.
Beverly Wood and Debra Bourdeau
How many instructors does it take for amazing course design? Or perhaps we should begin with “A mathematician, humanist, communication expert and statistician walk into a bar.” This unlikely team has co-developed a pair of courses, Learning to Reason I: Art and Quotient and Learning to Reason II: Commerce and Flux, that deeply investigate quantitative reasoning from multiple perspectives. Blending elements of rhetoric, logic, and history with mathematical computation, representation, and application breaks through the perceived barriers between the unyielding, obstinate world of mathematics and the ambiguous, equivocal world of the humanities. Developing the courses as an interdisciplinary team of mathematicians and humanists has brought together multiple ways of reasoning and habits of mind that present students with experiences in critical thinking involving both numbers and words. These innovative courses investigate such diverse topics as the history of mathematics, ethics and statistics, mathematical art, logical fallacies, fun with spreadsheets, personal economics, communicating quantitatively, and even origami. These courses also provide an alternative mathematics pathway for students in our programs for which calculus is not required. This paper will examine this unique interdisciplinary course development experience that uses an asynchronous online modality to deliver content to students around the world.
Kimberly S. Druschel, Mike May, and Elizabeth Gockel Blessing
This paper describes the renewal of a consumer-based elementary statistics course to benefit students in the nursing and allied health disciplines. While the goal of the course transformation was initially to update the pedagogy of the course and ensure students are able to make connections between the course material and their majors, that goal expanded to include the needs and objectives of the client disciplines. This expanded goal was accomplished by incorporating insights gained from a SUMMIT-P business school collaboration and was based on the Curriculum Foundations project recommendations. The paper addresses course projects, instructor development, faculty roles, and interactions with stakeholders. The influence of SUMMIT-P on the course renewal as well as sustainability plans are also shared.
Erica Slate Young, Peaches Hash, Sarah Schott, and Jack Bookman
Using a mixed-methods design, this body of work from the SUMMIT-P consortium explores possible effective conditions for the sustainable reform of STEM teaching and learning at the collegiate level. A model of catalysts for successful and sustainable change is proposed, based on five years of data collection and observations. These catalysts include institutional support, intrinsic and extrinsic motivation of faculty involved, measures of student success, institution size, prior faculty experience, faculty buy-in, and institutional culture. The discussion ends with a delve into the potential broader impacts of this work. For example, this model may help institutions better understand how to implement curricular change more effectively.