Education Commons^™

Leveraging Interdisciplinary Expertise In Developing An Alternative Mathematics Pathway, Beverly Wood, Debra T. Bourdeau

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

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 …

An Exploration Of A Researcher-Instructor Partnership In Implicit Racial Bias Awareness And Mitigation In College Stem Classrooms, Jacqueline Johnson Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Seventy-six percent of all minority students who enter college with declared majors in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) do not graduate with STEM degrees. Black students represent 40% of minority attrition from STEM. Implicit racial bias was indicated as a contributor to the challenges faced by Black students. The purpose of this study was to explore whether a researcher-instructor partnership brought awareness to and the potential for mitigation of implicit racial bias in course delivery and instructor interactions with Black students in STEM classes. A case study design was used over three phases to gather survey, observational, and interview …

Teaching In A Total Institution: Toward A Pedagogy Of Care In Prison Classrooms, Lauren J. Wolf

Journal of Prison Education and Reentry (2014-2023)

This paper argues that a pedagogy of care can help reduce some of the human damage caused by incarceration. Rather than casting incarcerated men and women outside of the moral community and turning prisoners into a “them,” a pedagogy of care promotes inclusion and the creation of human connections. Recognizing prisoners’ humanity helps to dissolve some of the effects of institutionalization and may foster rehabilitation. Instead of limiting teachers to providers of information, as a traditional classroom expects, a pedagogy of care elevates teachers to human constituents of a learning community. This paper outlines a pedagogy of care in the …

Sense Of Belonging Of Black Students In Stem Majors: A Mixed Methods Study, Lisa Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to examine Black STEM students’ sense of belonging. The researcher also sought to understand what factors most contributed to students’ sense of belonging and whether the involvement in a living learning community or summer bridge program had an effect. An explanatory sequential mixed methods design was used. Participants (N = 89) were administered a revised Psychological Sense of School Membership survey, then were purposively selected to participate in follow-up interviews (N = 8). A principal component analysis, an independent t-test, and a multiple regression analysis were conducted.

Results of the principal …

Engaging Teachers And Students In Stem Instruction Through Service-Learning, Kelly Lockeman, Suzanne Kirk, Lynn Pelco, Erin-Marie Burke Brown

Division of Community Engagement Resources

GreenSTEM at VCU integrates science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education with a focus on energy and the environment using service-learning techniques for middle school science, mathematics and technology teachers.

Greenstem@Vcu: An Innovative Program For Integrating Service-Learning Into Middle School Science, Technology And Mathematics Instruction, Suzanne Kirk, Kelly Lockeman, Lynn Pelco

Division of Community Engagement Resources

GreenSTEM integrates science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education with a focus on energy and the environment using service-learning techniques for middle school science, mathematics and technology teachers.