Marilyn Carlson and Alan O'Bryan

There have been many attempts to address student attrition and low learning gains in precalculus level courses with few approaches leveraging research on student learning and teaching of the course’s key ideas. This has led to the perpetuation of curriculum that is predominantly focused on methods for obtaining answers and students completing precalculus with weak understandings of the course’s key ideas (e.g., the meanings of function and rates of change) that are needed for learning calculus and modeling in the sciences. The Pathways Project is one response to this problem. In this talk we will provide an overview of the Pathways design-research process and resulting Pathways student curriculum and instructor support tools. We will share data that reveals the impact of the Pathways cognitively scaffolded materials on students’ thinking and learning and their continued study of mathematics.

Zoom Meeting: https://wwu-edu.zoom.us/j/99218903333 (ID: 992 1890 3333)

Passcode: Bellingham

Dr. Carlson is currently a professor in the School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences at Arizona State University. Her Project Pathways research is studying transitions in precalculus level teachers’ Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching (MKT) in relation to their teaching practice and students’ learning. She was the Coordinator of the MAA Special Interest Group for Research in Mathematics Education, and co-edited the MAA Volume, Making the Connection: Research to Practice in Mathematics Education. She received an NSF CAREER award to study student learning in calculus and has engaged in sustained research on teaching and learning of precalculus and beginning calculus since 1990. In 2007 she received the MAA Selden Award for Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education, and in 2013 she received the Outstanding Doctoral Mentor award at Arizona State University. She has mentored 14 PhD students in conducting studies of student learning and teaching in precalculus and calculus. She leads professional development workshops for community college and university faculty, and secondary precalculus teachers and has over 50 published articles related to teaching and learning precalculus and beginning calculus.

Dr. O’Bryan is a former lecturer and faculty research professional from Arizona State University. He has worked for almost 20 years as a curriculum developer, professional development leader, and teacher trainer. He is a co-author of six secondary and post- secondary mathematics textbooks and has delivered nearly 100 professional development workshops across the U.S. for teachers of all levels from elementary to post-secondary instructors. His research focuses on examining student learning of mathematical ideas and teacher change through the lens of cognitive psychology, and his presentations and workshops are characterized by the way they make mathematics education research findings accessible and practical for classroom teachers.