From Creative Idea to Implementation: Borrowing Practices and Problems from Social Science Disciplines

Authors

Anil Venkatesh, Adelphi UniversityFollow
Erin Militzer, Ferris State UniversityFollow

Publication Date

2020

Abstract

By collaborating with partner disciplines, mathematics educators gain valuable insight into the perspectives and needs of their students. This insight can lead to improved coordination of content and methods between courses in mathematics and the partner disciplines. This curricular coordination not only invites students to apply their mathematical knowledge in their own professional contexts, but also allows students to communicate mathematical mastery in the language of their intended professions. In this paper, we discuss the challenges specific to developing a mathematics course in collaboration with partner disciplines, with particular attention to portability to a wide range of math instructors. We identify three key obstacles to portability: instructor familiarity with application domains, variety of assessment styles, and grading consistency. We describe how each of these obstacles is addressed and discuss strategies that have helped new instructors be successful in teaching the course.

Volume

16

Issue

1

DOI

https://doi.org/10.25891/6fhc-fz21

Recommended Citation

Venkatesh, Anil and Militzer, Erin (2020) "From Creative Idea to Implementation: Borrowing Practices and Problems from Social Science Disciplines," Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations: Vol. 16: No. 1, Article 14.
Available at: https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/jmsce_vamsc/vol16/iss1/14