PROCEEDINGS OF THE 21ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2018
San Diego, California
Emerging Instructional Leadership in a New Course Coordination System
Page: 1414
This paper reports on the instantiation of a coordination system in a university mathematics department, and in particular the transition of three faculty members into their new roles as course coordinators. Course coordination, characterized by uniform course elements and instructor meetings, is a programmatic feature that supports student success in introductory mathematics courses. When courses are coordinated, the person or people responsible for the coordination play a critical and complex role in ensuring that all students experience comparable, well-designed classes – but building such a system is complex and has not been studied in situ. In this report, I explore one coordinator’s transition from a peripheral participant in discussions of teaching to a highly central figure with significant influence on instructors and colleagues in the department. Surveys and interviews with involved parties reveal nuance of this shift in leadership and shed some light on the process.