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NSF funds $2.4 million study of algebra curricula
The investigation project, titled “A Longitudinal Investigation of Curricular Effectiveness on Algebra Learning,” will be conducted by Jinfa Cai, UD professor of mathematical sciences, and John Moyer, professor of mathematics at Marquette. The $2,406,555 grant will begin with $786,006 for two years, with the additional money being disbursed over a total of five years, depending on the availability of funds at NSF. “I am very pleased to receive the funding for this line of research. It is truly an honor for our UD to host this five-year project,” Cai said. “So far, this is the largest grant NSF awarded to ‘independent researchers,’ those who have no associations with the curricula or authors of the curricula to be studied, in this program.” The project will compare the effects of using the Connected Mathematics Project (CMP) curriculum on algebraic learning, compared with the effects on algebraic learning of using other school mathematics curricula. The CMP curriculum is a complete, NSF-funded, middle school mathematics program. The comparison will try to determine the ways and circumstances under which the CMP curriculum can or cannot enhance student learning of algebra. The research will be conducted in 12 middle schools selected from public schools in Milwaukee. Six of the schools that have adopted the CMP curriculum will be randomly selected, and six non-CMP schools will be chosen based on comparable ethnicity, family incomes, accessibility of resources and test results. About 1,200 students will be selected in each of the two groups and followed for four years through high school. “The project includes three major components,” Cai said. “First of all, we will investigate how selected curricula were designed and developed, then we will investigate how teachers actually implement the curricula in the classrooms and, finally, we will examine what students actually learn in classroom. No comprehensive longitudinal studies have ever been conducted to investigate curriculum issues under the implementation conditions that arise in urban settings while controlling for variation among teachers and specific classrooms of students. Cai said the project is significant because it will provide scientific evidence about the effectiveness of the NSF-funded school mathematics curriculum on students’ learning and provide venues to test fundamental hypotheses about curriculum and teaching variables in an urban school setting. Findings from the project are expected to eventually help close achievement gaps between minority and non-minority students. “I am interested in how students learn mathematics and solve problems and how teachers can provide and create learning environments that would help students make sense of mathematics,” Cai said. “I seek answers to these questions in various educational contexts, both within and across nations.” Cai joined the faculty in 1996 and was promoted to associate professor in 2000. He was elevated to full professor in 2004 and served as president of the College of Arts and Sciences Faculty Senate in the 2004-05 academic year. He has received numerous grants and awards, including an international research award from the UD Office of the Provost and the Teaching Excellence Award from Kappa Delta Pi Education Honor Society at UD. He was a visiting scholar in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction at Chinese University of Hong Kong from March-April 1999. Cai’s recent publications include two articles on mathematical problem-solving research in special issues of the Journal of Mathematical Behavior. He co-edited How Chinese Learn Mathematics: Perspectives from Insiders by World Scientific in 2004. Article by Martin Mbugua |
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