PROCEEDINGS OF THE 23RD ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2020
Boston, Massachusetts
Math outreach - A learning opportunity for university students
Page: 1034
This article is a preliminary report describing a mathematics outreach program, which is a partnership among university faculty, underrepresented university students, and elementary school students in the west coast. This program aimed to develop math literacy through after-school engagement by providing opportunities to university students to apply university-learning experience in an out-of-class setting. The study participants were four university students who taught various mathematical topics to about twenty-five 3rd to 6th graders weekly for five weeks at a local public elementary school. The data consisted of university students’ self-reflections, which revealed commonalities between their perceptions of the learning objectives for elementary students and for themselves that they thought were met. They also developed an awareness and understanding of various issues that exist within education; they learned new mathematical vocabulary, and made explicit connections between their teaching experience and university-learning experience.