Calculus II Course Redesign: Supporting Faculty in Pedagogical Change

ABSTRACT

This article describes a partially flipped course design for Calculus II which has been implemented by a varied instructional team at a medium-sized public engineering university (Colorado School of Mines (Mines)) over a period of three years. We have identified three main factors which have contributed to the success of the implementation: (1) institutional support for teaching, (2) use of evidence-based practices, and (3) creation of faculty community. We demonstrate both student and faculty success through student assessment data and faculty interviews. Success is defined in terms of student performance, the implementation rate of faculty, and the positive experience of the instructional team.

KEYWORDS:

• Active learning
• departmental change
• flipped classroom

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Kevin Ahrendt, Melissa Erdmann, Rebekah Garris, Justin Garrish, Ada Palmisano, Kelley Tatangelo, Holly Wenham, and Christian Westhof for participating in this project, and providing valuable feedback.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Debra Carney

Deb Carney is a Teaching Professor at the Colorado School of Mines and the Assistant Department Head for the Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics. Deb received her Ph.D. in mathematical logic from the University of Maryland, College Park in 1998. She arrived at CSM in 2012, after spending 9 years on the faculty at the University of Denver. She is interested in innovative teaching techniques that improve student learning and she was awarded the Mines Teaching Award for teaching faculty in 2019. Additionally, she has developed a passion for mentoring women in mathematics through the Society of Women in Mathematics at Mines which she cofounded with Rebecca Swanson. She enjoys hiking and traveling, especially to Cape Cod every summer with her family.

Megan Sanders

Megan Sanders is the Senior Assessment Associate at the Trefny Innovative Instruction Center at the Colorado School of Mines. Before joining Mines, Megan worked at the Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence and Instructional Innovation at Carnegie Mellon University, where her role focused on supporting instructors in conducting research about student outcomes in their courses. Megan's disciplinary background is in educational psychology. She earned her PhD from the Ohio State University, and her research focused on the idea of relevance in higher education–how we define it, how students perceive it, and how to measure it – an interest that continues to inform her work.

Samuel Spiegel

Sam Spiegel is the Director of the Trefny Innovative Instruction Center at the Colorado School of Mines. He previously served as Chair of the Disciplinary Literacy in Science Team at the Institute for Learning (IFL) and Associate Director of Outreach and Development for the Swanson School of Engineering's Engineering Education Research Center at the University of Pittsburgh. Prior to joining the University of Pittsburgh, he was a science educator at Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS). Sam also served as Director of Research & Development for a multimedia development company and as founding Director of the Center for Integrating Research & Learning (CIRL) at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Florida State University. His extensive background in science education includes experiences as both a middle school and high school science teacher, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in science and science education, working with high-risk youth in alternative education centers, working in science museums, designing and facilitating online courses, multimedia curriculum development, and leading and researching professional learning for educators. The Association for the Education of Teachers of Science (AETS) honored Sam for his efforts in teacher education with the Innovation in Teaching Science Teachers award (1997). Sam's current efforts focus on educational reform and in the innovation of teaching and learning resources and practices.

Rebecca Swanson

Rebecca Swanson is a Teaching Professor at the Colorado School of Mines. She received her Ph.D. in mathematics from Indiana University in 2010. Prior to arriving at the Colorado School of Mines in 2012, she was an Assistant Professor at Nebraska Wesleyan University. She enjoys the beauty and elegance of discrete mathematics and the challenge of pedagogical innovation. Rebecca has been recognized for her efforts with the Rocky Mountain MAA Early Career Teaching Award (2016) and the university's Board of Trustees Award for Outstanding Faculty (2017). Rebecca also enjoys mentoring women in mathematics through the university AWM student chapter she cofounded with Deb Carney, as well as co-advising the department Putnam team with her husband and colleague, Stephen Pankavich. She likes to spend her free time with her husband, two young daughters, and her dog, and enjoys traveling, baking, running, and reading.

Ariana Vasquez

Ariana Vasquez is the DeVries Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Trefny Innovative Instruction Center at the Colorado School of Mines. She earned her doctorate in Educational Psychology from The University of Texas at Austin. Ariana's research focuses on motivation, learning, and achievement. Her research is driven by a desire to find solutions to educational problems in the classrooms. Her work experience while at UT Austin, included time at the Charles A. Dana Center, the Center for Teaching and Learning, and as a project manager for a large-scale longitudinal research study in high school science classrooms. Prior to joining Mines Ariana was a Survey Team manager at GLG in Austin, TX.