The Power of Community in Tackling Wicked Problems: Reflections on a CIME Workshop

At the beginning of the year, I heard about the SLMath workshop on Critical Issues in Mathematics Education series. This year, the workshop focused on empowering teaching faculty to be change agents. I couldn't help but anticipate an extraordinary journey of professional and personal development. I had heard of MSRI (now known as SLMath) and the world-class programming they offered as a graduate student, but I never had an opportunity to visit. Because this conference was specifically for teaching faculty, and it felt like it was tailor-made for me at this point in my career. I was thrilled to be invited to attend.

All aspects of the schedule were well thought out, and the organizers did a lovely job weaving topics and break-out sessions. On Wednesday, we were given specific change efforts to think about and discuss. On Thursday, we discussed how change happens and why it is difficult. And on Friday, we had more time for networking and dreaming about what is next. While the content was wonderful (and I’m thankful I have all the slides to refer to!), the time talking and meeting people made the most impact. Marco Molinaro gave a talk on Effective Uses of Data in Change Efforts and stated that change is “10% data, 90% people.” The same could be said of the workshop as well. The impact of the workshop is “10% content, 90% people.”

10% content.

There were many wonderful speakers, but the one talk that I keep thinking about was from Natasha Speer. She described the problem we are facing in higher ed math as a Wicked Problem. Specifically, many institutions are facing the wicked problem: many of our students are struggling with developmental math courses, and this is a barrier for them to complete a college degree. This problem is affecting underrepresented groups at a disproportionate rate. This problem is “wicked” because it can be characterized as a symptom of another problem and it requires ongoing improvement. The idea of complex, intractable problems requiring ongoing “solutions” will be on my mind for a long time (and probably during every department meeting).

90% people.

But then there are the people. On Wednesday evening, I met Jim and Dan at the reception as we were discussing Calculus II (and sharing tips about how to help our students learn series convergence tests). Later, we met up for drinks with Amit and Ryan. We shared challenges and opportunities that we are facing at our current (and previous) institutions, and my big take-away was that Dan has thought deeply about how to help students in College Algebra. His institution's DFW rate is 20%. I want to circle back to learn more about his program.

I was sharing a room with Brin at the Women’s Faculty Club, and I met her fellow grad student, Nancy. I met them both for the first time this week. We had been chatting about math and careers, and we very quickly discussed deeper topics: family and faith. It was somehow strange and normal to have deep, meaningful conversations with people I had just met.

On Thursday evening, I joined Brin and her friends from Idaho, Tim and Katherine, for dinner. Tim and Brin are thinking through developmental math, and we discussed course content, technology, and what they are planning to support their students. Also, Tim shared some interesting ideas about how he had a successful dual enrollment program for high schoolers at his previous institution. I plan to circle back to this conversation as well.

There were many breakout sessions and bus rides when I discussed mastery-based grading, recontracting, math enrichment, adaptive homework, challenges with coordinating courses… with Nina, Kira, Janet, Alice, Taylor, Chloe, Pawel, Jim, Dan, Hyman, Dave, and many others. Conversations were natural because so many of us have similar roles in similar institutions facing similar problems. But even in discussing how our situations were different, people were supportive and encouraging. The energy and excitement that change is possible was the encouragement I needed to keep doing the hard work to improve our institutions for our students.

I was blown away about how quickly people connected. In each conversation, the people I met were vulnerable and transparent. I think this is the beginning of a deep, rich network of instructional faculty that will bear fruit for years to come.

Editor’s Note: This is the first post in a series that arose from the Bringing Innovation to Scale: Teaching-Focused Faculty as Change Agents workshop at SLMath (formerly MSRI). Teaching-focused faculty at research institutions are gathering online to share ideas and provide each other support. If you’re interested in joining the conversation, you can access their Zulip community here via either the web or the Zulip app. After you create a free account, organizers request that you introduce yourself on the #Welcome stream.

Beca Lufi is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Math Department at Temple University.