Testing a Model of Instructor Feedback to Improve College Students' Success in Calculus

This project aims to serve the national interest by improving success in college mathematics. To do so, it will develop and implement specific instructor feedback strategies that are expected to increase student learning and success in introductory college calculus courses. Introductory college calculus is a gateway course that enrolls hundreds of thousands of students across the nation each year. Many of these students aspire to major in a STEM field. Students' experiences in calculus can have a significant impact on their interest and persistence in pursuing those aspirations, particularly for students from underrepresented populations, including women, racial minorities, first-generation college students, and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds. Students in these populations leave STEM degree programs at a higher rate than their peers. The loss of students from STEM majors has far-reaching consequences for the students' educational attainment and career prospects. However, it also limits the potential of the STEM enterprise to benefit from the advantages of diversity for problem solving, innovation, and other outcomes. This project focuses on instructor feedback to students as a potentially transformative, relatively low-cost instructional tool to improve the undergraduate STEM experience, particularly for students from underrepresented groups. Certain types of feedback may boost students' confidence in their ability and belonging in math, which in turn may shape their study habits, academic help-seeking behaviors, and attitudes toward, identification with, and interest in math and related fields. Over time, these subtle changes may contribute to improved performance and persistence in math, as reflected by students' calculus course grades and future enrollment in STEM courses. By defining the types of feedback that are most effective for improving math outcomes, the project will produce information that will be immediately useful to mathematics educators and that may apply in other STEM fields.

Using survey methods, researchers will first investigate current norms, practices, and experiences surrounding feedback in introductory college calculus courses. Next, using experimental methods, students in introductory calculus courses will be randomly assigned to receive different types of feedback to determine which are most beneficial, and whether aspects of the feedback provider and student status matter in shaping the outcomes. Four types of feedback will be examined: Objective feedback (providing only a grade or score), and three types of descriptive feedback: Positive feedback (conveying a job well done), Corrective feedback (conveying what could be improved), and Wise feedback (corrective feedback plus assurance that students can meet high standards). Students will complete four surveys over the course of the semester, examining measures including self-efficacy and belonging in math, study habits, academic help-seeking behaviors, attitudes/identification/interest in math, and performance and persistence in math (i.e., calculus grades, future enrollment in STEM courses). By examining existing norms and practices and testing the types of feedback that are most beneficial for students, this project could improve the mindsets and practices of instructors in these courses. Findings from the project may provide guides for improving the design and implementation of feedback protocols in math classrooms, which in turn may improve the educational experience for students, especially students that may have increased risk of leaving STEM degree programs. The researchers will disseminate results of this project widely to math educators, college administrators, academics, and the public by publishing the findings in journals, presenting at conferences, conducting instructor workshops, and creating an online feedback training course for math instructors on how to give feedback. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.