| Susan Ganter
NSF
Development of a general evaluation model for undergraduate mathematics reform
In addition to the evaluation of calculus reform and the development of a model for undergraduate education as proposed for the first term of this project, the second term will allow time to participate two additional endeavors related to my work. First is an evaluation of the implementation and initial impact of the Institution-wide Reform initiative recently begun at NSF. The fact that the first round of awards are just being made yields the opportunity to track these projects from their outset and use the results to make both policy and procedural adjustments for the future. The proposals from this initiative, funded or not, also represent a rich source of information on how institutions of higher education define the undergraduate reform of which they have been a part, as well as where they think efforts should be directed in the future. This part of project will include the implementation of a formative evaluation plan for the institution-wide initiative in two parts, including an analysis of the proposals and an investigation of the funded projects' initial work. Proposal analysis will yield detailed descriptions of prior educational innovations, a definition of "institution-wide reform", and the initial priorities for the initiative as defined by the comments of NSF review panels. Implementation of projects will be monitored with a combination of surveys, telephone interviews, and site visits. Of primary importance will be any evidence that the initiative has resulted in institutions changing their priorities to ensure that the integrated reform efforts established by the projects will be sustained. The second term of the project will also result in a chapter on undergraduate education in the next Indicators of Science and Mathematics report. Results from the evaluation studies on calculus reform and the institution-wide would be likely candidates for such a chapter, which will be designed to highlight innovations in science and mathematics at the post-secondary level.
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