Connecticut State Community College (CT State) has been selected as a Phase 2 participant in the National Science Foundation’s Teaching for Prowess grant.  Math faculty from the Manchester, Capital, Northwestern CT, and Quinebaug Valley campuses of CT State have formed an IMPACT Team that will be collaborating with leaders from the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (AMATYC), Oregon State University, and the Phase 1 community colleges, Chandler-Gilbert CC and Clackamas CC, as well as five other Phase 2 community colleges.  The goal of the grant is to increase the success of STEM students in their math courses through the implementation of active learning pedagogy.

CT State’s IMPACT Team consists of math faculty Debora Rimkus (PI), Myrta Groeneveld (co-PI), Andre Freeman, and Crystal Wiggins, with support from Forrest Helvie from the Office of Teaching and Learning, and David Nielsen and Patrick Keller from Institutional Research. 

To meet the grant’s objective, The IMPACT Team has chosen to implement Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) comprised of math faculty who are teaching College Algebra courses.  A new cohort of the PLC will be formed each semester of the 3-year grant.  PLC participants will receive training in the four pillars of active learning.  This training includes participation in the Inclusive STEM Teaching Project (another NSF-funded grant) to meet the fourth active learning pillar of instructors’ attention to equitable and inclusive practices. 

After one semester of training, the participants will teach at least one section of College Algebra the following semester using the active learning strategies they have learned.  Through regular PLC meetings during the semester, participants will support each other by sharing best practices, problem-solving things that are not working, and collaborating on the creation of active learning lessons.  In addition, both quantitative and qualitative data will be collected to measure the effectiveness of the new active learning pedagogy. 

The IMPACT Team hopes that the PLCs will create a culture of collaboration among math faculty across campuses that will transform our state-wide math department into one that embraces equitable and inclusive best practices that will enable each CT State student to engage deeply and successfully in their mathematics courses.