PROCEEDINGS OF THE 19TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2016
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Students’ experiences and perceptions of an inquiry-based model of supplemental instruction for calculus
Page: 1467
The Inquiry-Based Instructional Support (IBIS) workshop model is part of an innovative degree program designed to prepare elementary mathematics teachers. The reason behind IBIS workshops was to support students enrolled in “historically difficult” mathematics courses, such as Calculus I and Calculus II. The design of IBIS workshop was framed and guided by Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) (Gosser & Roth, 1998) and Complex Instruction (Cohen, 1994). During workshop, students work in small groups and engage in “groupworthy” mathematical tasks that promote their conceptual understanding of Calculus topics (Cohen, 1994). A pilot study was conducted to evaluate the workshop structure and these tasks. In order to assess students’ workshop experiences, follow-up interviews were conducted. Students’ responses indicated that their workshop experiences helped to promote the development of their problem solving skills and highlighted the critical roles of thinking and reasoning in learning Calculus with understanding.