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Traditional instruction of mathematics has relied predominantly on teacher-centered pedagogies or passive learning (e.g lecture). Active learning differs in that it includes student-centered approaches and has been shown to increase student understanding in STEM courses.
The purpose of this study is to explore and discover what elements lead to good problem-solving tasks in an active learning mathematics focused classroom. Elements were determined using interviews with mathematics instructors that currently use active learning techniques and problem-solving tasks in their classrooms. Instructors were asked to describe the process they use for creating tasks. An instructor’s guidebook will be created and made available based on the findings and discoveries of this study on how to create problem-solving tasks.
The three main categories of emergent themes were task structure, task development, and problem-solving environment. The emergent themes in task structure are useful for understanding what elements make a good problem-solving task. Knowing the particular challenges previous instructors faced in creating an active-learning environment will help instructors avoid common pitfalls. These elements of creating a problem-solving environment will also be included in the guidebook as a class cannot have good problem-solving tasks without an environment conducive to active learning.
lack of time pressure and urgency to the given situations. If these expected results hold, there may be implications for both undergraduate engineering curriculum and real-world engineering endeavors.
The creative project was to create a working prototype kit that can teach multiple lessons of the curriculum that the schools or individual families could purchase. The curriculum would be centered on the engineering and science curriculum that is introduced from fourth to sixth grade classes. By creating an interactive kit with curriculum that the students could individualize and use for multiple lessons, the goal is to get them more engaged in the material. The project would consist of a week-long project kit that will introduce different engineering topics for three to four days of the week with mini projects and a final project that pieces together the topics they learned. The biggest take away from the project was how to best get user feedback and fast track the IRB process. The IRB process for a project focusing on minors and teachers will cause some catches in the process. Included is a discussion on the IRB process for a project like this and how to best go through or avoid IRB to ensure the project can progress, while still gathering valuable information.