Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Summary: Through a collaborative team of universities and community colleges representing 9 current NSF S-STEM projects, this research hub called PROSPECT S-STEM aims to catalyze co-equitable partnerships between two-year colleges and four-year institutions that empower low-income STEM transfer students. Researchers at Clemson University, East Carolina University, Southeast Community College, the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Augsburg University, the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the University of Texas at Arlington, and YNOTI Solutions along with 11 two-year college partners are united by their goal to support domestic undergraduates as they navigate the transfer process. PROSPECT S-STEM will operate as a research and dissemination hub to investigate the nature of two- and four-year colleges’ partnerships and how developing co-equitable partnerships can better support low-income STEM scholars before and after the transition process. There is a need to understand how two- and four-year colleges can effectively establish and maintain partnerships, particularly given inherent power imbalances and often complex cultural norms. Equitable partnerships that support transfer students necessarily involve a range of stakeholders across institutions, including advisors, faculty, financial aid, student affairs professionals, and other administrators involved with transfer policies and programs. PROSPECT S-STEM will examine the nature of these partnerships through a) longitudinal and maximum variation case studies of two- and four-year college partnerships trying to improve STEM transfer student success and through b) the establishments of professional learning communities with key stakeholders.
Collaborators: Wendy Smith (University of Nebraska Lincoln), Vashti Sawtelle (Michigan State University), Michelle Maher (University of Missouri Kansas City), Darran Cairns (University of Missouri Kansas City), Theresa Jorgensen (University of Texas Arlington), Aileen Reid (University of North Carolina Greensboro), Molly Kennedy (Clemson), Kelly Lazar (Clemson), Matthew Boyer (Clemson), Chris Kitchens (Clemson), Joseph Santaniello (Spartanburg Community College), Marcia Schenck (Spartanburg Community College), Tim Fulford (Trident Technical College)
Funding Agency: Clemson University Creative Inquiry
Summary: This creative inquiry project aims to explore issues at the intersection of being Queer and in STEM environments. There is emerging research understanding the experiences of Queer STEM students as well as professional societies and student organizations (e.g., oSTEM) that are uniquely designed for LGBTQIA+ students who have an interest in STEM fields. This project involves an initial sequence that provides an overview of Queer Theory, research on Queer issues in STEM, and a focus on designing Queer informed STEM experiences. In the second and third semesters, the project will implement a teaching experiment or research project that examines the impact of Queer informed STEM experiences for undergraduate students. The project is designed for both STEM and Non-STEM students and students who identify with being LGBTQIA+ and Allies. Students will have an opportunity to analyze and present data in scholarly presentations and publications.
Collaborators: Eliza Gallagher (Clemson)
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Summary: The goal of this collaborative research grant -- Student Engagement in Mathematics through an Institutional Network for Active Learning (SEMINAL) -- is to better understand how to enact and support institutional change aimed at implementing active learning in undergraduate mathematics learning environments. This project will support ongoing and future efforts focused on increasing student success and persistence in the pre-Calculus to Calculus 2 (P2C2) sequence and will promote the adoption of active learning approaches among member institutions of the Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership (MTEP) organized by the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). The project will be carried out in two phases. Phase 1 consists of case studies at six institutions that have a record of successfully implementing Active Learning Mathematics (ALM) and that represent both diverse institutional settings and student demographics. Phase 2 consists of longitudinal, incentivized case studies of nine diverse institutions that set out to infuse active learning in the P2C2 sequence.
Collaborators: Howard Gobstein (Association of Publica and Land Grant Universities), Chris Rasmussen (San Diego State University), Wendy Smith (University of Nebraska Lincoln), Rob Tubbs (University of Colorado Boulder), David Webb (University of Colorado Boulder), Michael O’Sullivan (San Diego State University), April Strom (Chandler-Gilbert Community College)
Additional: SEMINAL APLU Impact
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation
Summary: Progress through Calculus (PtC) project (maa.org/PtC) is a national study of introductory mathematics programs sponsored by the National Science Foundation (DUE IUSE #1430540) and run with support from the Mathematical Association of America. The project focused on the Precalculus to Calculus 2 (P2C2) course sequence, which is the course sequence generally required of undergraduate STEM majors. This multi-year project, begun in 2015, consisted of two phases. Phase 1 involved a survey of all university mathematics departments in the United States. The aim of this phase was to catalog common practices, and in particular, to document the prevalence of program characteristics previously shown to support student success in Calculus 1. Phase 2 of the PtC project consisted of multi-year case studies of 12 selected mathematics programs.
Collaborators: David Bressoud (Macalester College) Chris Rasmussen (San Diego State University), Sean Larsen (Portland State University), Jess Ellis (Colorado State University – Fort Collins), Ray Levy (Mathematical Association of America), Estrella Johnson (Virginia Tech)
Additional: MAA Progress through Calculus
Assistant Professor
Department of Engineering & Science Education
Office: M08 Holtzendorff
Phone: (864) 656-4321
Email: mkvoigt@clemson.edu