Chapter 6: Improving Freshman-Level Mathematics Courses via Active Learning Mathematics Strategies¹

Student success in undergraduate mathematics has significant implications for whether students choose to continue in STEM (science, technology, engineering, or mathematics) majors and future related careers (e.g., National Research Council [NRC], 2012). Even for those students who do not choose to major in STEM, success in entry-level undergraduate mathematics courses, such as calculus, can make or break students’ decisions to persist in postsecondary education (Bressoud, Carlson, Mesa, & Rasmussen, 2013). The Characteristics of Successful Programs in College Calculus project (Bressoud et al., 2013) showed the percentage of students with grades of D, F or Withdraw (DFW) in Calculus I ranged from an average of 25% at Ph.D.-granting universities to an average of 37% at regional comprehensive universities. Unfortunately, uninspiring and unengaging instructional practices in these entry-level courses compound the loss of STEM majors (Freeman et al., 2014), and disproportionately impact populations that are already underrepresented in STEM (Olson & Riordan, 2012). These concerns, together with a commitment to developing students’ mathematical content knowledge, led the Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership (MTE-Partnership) to create an Active Learning Mathematics Research Action Cluster (ALM RAC).