By Erin R. Moss, Co-Editor of DUE Point, Millersville University of Pennsylvania

The COMmunities for Mathematics Inquiry in Teaching (COMMIT, formerly known as Inquiry-Based Learning Communities) Project supports local community building among university mathematics educators. The NSF grant provides funding to mathematics faculty interested in evidence-based inquiry teaching techniques. While the work of the original project includes 9 regions that span 39% of the United States’ population, additional communities are continually being added to the network. COMMIT professional development is accessible without the need of a plane ticket, and is continuous and ongoing, leading to sustainable change in teaching practices.

This project is supported by research on educator professional development in the area of inquiry methods. Its design is also strengthened by the value of social learning created within communities of practice. The intellectual merit of the project lies in its potential to inform our understanding of the role that these communities can play in helping faculty to adopt, sustain, and promote evidence-based inquiry teaching strategies in undergraduate mathematics education. Principal Investigator Dr. Patrick Rault describes his work on this project below.  

How do you establish and manage such a large project, with teams of inquiry practitioners spread throughout various geographical regions?

The COMMIT model relies on bottom-up grassroots organizing. Each region has a small leadership team that organizes keynote events, surveys members, manages a website and listserv, fundraises, and acts as a role model and cheerleader. This supports and encourages others to organize additional valuable community activities such as class observations, peer coaching, panels, themed discussions, and book groups. The project team manages the COMMIT Network of leaders and facilitators of each region and provides a similar community structure to bring these individuals together to share successes, brainstorm challenges, and ensure some measure of cohesion between the regions.

What types of community-building strategies are you finding to be most effective in supporting faculty to adopt the use of inquiry in undergraduate mathematics education?

For educators who are new to inquiry, accessible workshop series (online or at local conferences that they are already planning to attend) with follow-up support (through peer-coaching, mentoring, or other connections through their COMMIT) has been effective.  The local nature of our events makes it easier for faculty to keep coming back and to quickly establish trusting relationships with the small group of educators in their communities. 

What strategies are effective for helping experienced educators sustain their practice? 

For educators who have been using inquiry teaching styles for decades, the presence of the community helps them to sustain their practice when faced with challenges like teaching a new course or a course in a different mode (e.g. online, remote, or hybrid during the pandemic). It can also help them deepen their practice through exposure to new techniques (e.g. within inquiry-based learning, inquiry-oriented instruction, problem-based learning, student-centered teaching, active learning, ambitious teaching, discovery learning, process-oriented guided inquiry learning, complex instruction, and culturally responsive teaching). The strength of our model is that it is not “one size fits all;” instead, each community is constantly adapting to the needs of the local members.

One of your project objectives is to broaden participation in the use of inquiry techniques among faculty groups underrepresented in STEM. Can you describe why opportunities to engage in using inquiry are so important for issues of equity, diversity, inclusion, and access in undergraduate mathematics education, both for students and community members?

Educators typically come to use inquiry as a teaching practice because of its potential to have a strong positive impact on students, especially those from marginalized groups. While inquiry alone does not guarantee success for marginalized students, one of the main goals of inquiry-based learning and inquiry-oriented instruction (two of the major strands of inquiry being researched in college mathematics) is that instructors foster equity in their design and facilitation choices. All member communities of the COMMIT network share a focus on equitable and inclusive teaching — in workshops, discussions, and projects sponsored by the community. Our members are actively exploring what aspects of the varying strands of inquiry are most impactful for narrowing achievement gaps for marginalized students.

Similarly, we need to ensure that the communities we are building do not simply maintain and support systemic societal norms, but instead promote equity, diversity, and inclusion at all levels. Regional equity workshops help our members reflect on and employ effective classroom practices. The very existence of our communities is grounded in the idea that we can provide quality professional development without the need for substantial travel funds. We offer national equity workshops and a community-building toolkit to support leadership teams in recruitment strategies (of both new leaders and new members), with the aim that our community demographics mirror those of the regions they serve.

Learn more about NSF DUE 1925188

Full Project Name: The Inquiry-Based Learning Regional Communities Project

Abstract: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1925188&HistoricalAwards=false

Project Contact: Dr. Patrick Rault, PI; prault@unomaha.edu

*Responses in this blog were edited for length and clarity.