At the end of July 2020, Chandler-Gilbert CC started their work to implement a professional development project called Teaching for PROWESS (TfP): Increasing Student Success in Community College Mathematics Through Active Learning and Systemic Instructional Change. The project, funded by the National Science Foundation (DUE #2013493, #2012962, #2013232, #2013550), is a five-year collaborative project involving partnerships with AMATYC (lead), Chandler-Gilbert CC, Clackamas CC, and Oregon State University. And, as you noticed in the title, the project aims to advance the four pillars promoted in the AMATYC IMPACT guide: PRoficiency, OWnership, Engagement, and Student Success. We are excited about this opportunity to impact the teaching and learning of mathematics in community colleges and to increase student engagement through active learning.

At Chandler-Gilbert CC, we will be implementing an 80-hour faculty professional development program during the 2020-2021 academic year for those teaching Calculus I, II, and III, and Brief Calculus. All activities in the professional development program are designed to help faculty teach in asynchronous online and synchronous online for-mats, and will help faculty become acclimated to the course materials created for teaching in these formats. The professional development program includes:
TfP Calculus Camp 1, which was held July 27-30, 2020; an additional TfP Calculus Camp was held in January of this year. The structure of the virtual camps includes both asynchronous and synchronous work time, as well as a mixture of whole team and breakout group activities.
TfP Calculus CCOLs (Collaborative Community of Learners) held throughout the fall and spring semesters to include 16 two-hour meetings.
TfP Calculus Reflection which will be individual work time for reading, learning, and preparing to teach.

CGCC has been selected to implement a project focused on elevating active learning in Calculus that will serve as a model for other community colleges who will join the TfP project in Phase 2. We are all learning, through experience, how to engage students in active learning, even while in an online environment. In addition, the work that we are doing to develop effective online learning experiences will supplement face-to-face learning experiences once faculty return to the classroom. We look forward to sharing with the AMATYC community all that we have learned about how active learning improves students’ engagement, knowledge, and ability!