Vision & Practice

Exploring Mathematics in University Education Systems

Department of Mathematics & Statistics, Auburn University

Grants

MAA Dolciani Mathematics Enrichment Grants (DMEG): Promoting Success in Mathematical Enrichment Through Graduate Teaching Assistant and Undergraduate Pre-Service Teacher Training

August 2022 – July 2023
Project Director: Melinda Lanius, Co-Director: Heather Haskell.
Program Budget: $5,000.
At Auburn University, the COVID-19 pandemic put outreach on hold. Much of the institutional memory concerning outreach was lost due to students graduating and faculty retiring. In the Department of Mathematics & Statistics we need a big jolt to get our outreach engine back up and running. Our project builds a foundation for continuing outreach success by (1) building an outreach closet/library with classroom sets of math manipulatives and activity lesson plans, (2) providing robust outreach training and activity development opportunities to graduate students and undergraduate pre-service teachers, and (3) running our activities at a variety of outreach events in Spring and Summer 2023.

NSF: IUSE Collaborative Research: Promoting Success in Undergraduate Mathematics through Graduate Teaching Assistant Training

October 2018 – September 2023
Principal Investigator: Melinda Lanius, Co-Principal Investigators: Christopher Rodger, Overtoun Jenda, Nedret Billor, Lora Merchant.
Award Amount: $365,396.
This multi-part, three-institution collaboration investigates the impact of a multi-component, enhanced instructional and pedagogical training on Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) at the University of Colorado Denver, Auburn University, and the University of Memphis. Providing an effective model of GTA training that encompasses a wide variety of evidence-based approaches has the potential to improve GTA teaching practices, which in turn may improve undergraduate learning outcomes in a course taught by a GTA.