Math research group presents at RUME 2023
The team presented on the use of mathematical modeling to make sense of a student learning network in precalculus classes.
Posted in: Faculty and Student Research, Mathematics Education PhD
Mathematics education doctoral student John O’Meara, along with mathematics faculty Dr. Ashwin Vaidya, recently presented their research at the 2023 Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education conference in Omaha, NE. Also contributing to this research presentation were undergraduate mathematics students Cristina Flores and Vlad Nita.
During the presentation, John shared about the dynamic nature of the evolution of students’ networks, as well as insights about how course performance can be correlated with both features of the students’ networks and the course’s ideal network structure. Their work aims to lay the foundation for meaningful intervention and predictive analytical tools that instructors can make use of in order to identify which students are likely to struggle in their precalculus course, and with what particular topics they need additional support. Such an extension is mitigated by a qualitative analysis of identity-based surveys and collaboratively constructed problem sets where the presence of personal connections in this medium are compared and correlated to the students’ connected network structures and their overall performance in the course.
Great job, everyone!