RUME 26
2024
Omaha, Nebraska
Case Studies of Undergraduate Students’ Agentive Participation in the Parallel Spaces of Calculus I Coursework and Peer-Led, Inquiry-Oriented, Complementary Instruction
Page: 1024
Calculus has long been known as a “gateway course” to STEM fields in postsecondary education. To address this issue, researchers in the Math Department at Montclair State University designed a model of complementary instruction that features peer-facilitated workshops where Calculus I students work in groups on inquiry-oriented, groupworthy tasks. The purpose of this multiple-case study is to seek answers to the question, "How do undergraduate Calculus I students experience and navigate their learning of calculus in the parallel spaces of coursework and inquiry-oriented complementary instruction?" The findings of one case study are presented here and include characterizations of the different forms of agentive participation afforded to students in each of the two spaces, as well as their complementary nature relative to learning calculus with understanding. Implications for dismantling the persistent barriers imposed by calculus on access to postsecondary STEM fields are also discussed.