We introduce a ruler and compass activity designed around Islamic Geometry and provide a detailed description of the various components of the activity along with ideas for students exhibitions in both digital and print form. In our experience, this activity helps students to "buy into" actively doing mathematics, making it an ideal…

This paper introduces a course design for a post-Calculus undergraduate course on mathematical modeling for the life sciences. The course includes differential equations, discrete, and cellular automata approaches (among others) to modeling questions in the life sciences, as well as a variety of biological topics. The course focuses on model…

Governmental and educational organizations have pointed out that students coming into the biological sciences require stronger skills in statistics and data modeling that are not usually addressed in typical engineering-based calculus courses. Our work here documents how faculty in biology and mathematics addressed this issue at a large urban…

To address a deteriorating classroom climate at the midpoint of a two-semester course sequence, we employed a novel intervention: reading a research manuscript together with students as an invitation to legitimate peripheral participation in scholarly reflection on teaching and learning. This intervention resolved many student complaints about the…

In introductory level math classes, writing prompts can be used as part of weekly homework assignments to encourage students to think more deeply about the subject at hand. These writing prompts present scenarios related to recently learned material in a new context and require students to submit a short written response online. Writing prompts…

This paper describes the development and implementation of course modules intended to encourage creative thinking in an undergraduate general education mathematics course. The modules were designed to address the characteristics of creativity outlined in the literature through explorations of mathematics relevant to non-mathematics majors. A…

What if your students could access "any" resource during a test? How would they react? How would "you" react? This paper presents some results from a trial of allowing students access to notes, calculators, and any device connected to the internet, which occurred during a midterm in a second-year ordinary differential equations…

This article chronicles the author's positive experience of conducting a liberal arts mathematics course with no testing whatsoever. The format of the course is discussed, and student responses to the format are summarized.

In 2011, Sonoma State University developed a STEM first-year experience (supported by NSF STEP grant 1068445) that combines general education requirements in mathematics, biology, and critical thinking. The mathematics content includes topics from precalculus and elementary statistics, with a particular focus on using functions and modeling with…

In this paper, we describe the evolution of calculus instruction at a mid-sized, career-oriented, comprehensive public university. Changes in practice, that began with a single faculty member implementing technology as a tool for student inquiry, have spread to other department faculty via support from an internal grant, workshops, and the use of…

Our traditional model of calculus instruction at a large public research university emphasized factual knowledge and procedural fluency with few realistic applications, leaving a chasm between classroom mathematics and disciplinary practice. Amid an ongoing effort by our department to improve undergraduate learning outcomes, we replaced…

Our department has experienced a significant culture transformation in its approach to teaching. This change is primarily the result of sustained focus on reforming two heavily coordinated sequences, Applied Calculus and Calculus. Initially catalyzed by pilot projects introducing a flipped-class format to these courses, the reforms led to broader…

San Diego State University recently embarked on a major initiative to revitalize the Precalculus, Calculus 1, and Calculus 2 sequences. In addition to program features such as course coordination, a new active learning component led by graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) was added to each of the Precalculus, Calculus 1, and Calculus 2 courses, and…

In this paper, we provide a report of preliminary findings of the Morgan State University (MSU) Student Engagement in Mathematics through an Institutional Network for Active Learning (SEMINAL) project and its focus on culturally responsive teaching (CRT) as an active learning framework for pre-calculus instruction. The paper concludes with a…

An interactive open-source calculus textbook is compared to a popular commercial textbook. Structured as a non-inferiority study, use of the open-source textbook does not harm student outcomes, and there is evidence that the open-source textbook is better than the commercial textbook in promoting post-course enjoyment of mathematics and confidence…