Identity and Social Justice: Leveraging Learning Experiences in Differential Equations

• In Event: 79.051 - MTCC Roundtable Session 37
  In Roundtable Session: 79.051-7 - Complexities of Using Statistical Contexts to Pursue Equity and Social Justice

Abstract

Recently, Adiredja and Andrews-Larson (2017) challenged the field to consider the political and contextual nature of teaching and learning postsecondary mathematics including its power dynamics and social discourses. In this report, we discuss the initial stages of a classroom teaching experiment intended to bring social justice topics into a differential equations course. Our iterative research process consists of using theory that informs our instructional design and theory that informs our classroom analysis. Here we discuss results from the classroom analysis through Gutiérrez’s (2009, 2013) four dimensions of equity. Results show that identity and power emerge from student portfolios after engaging in a climate change problem, but more research is needed to draw out these dimensions more explicitly.

Authors

• Nicholas Fortune, North Carolina State University

• Justin Dunmyre, Frostburg State University

• Chris L. Rasmussen, San Diego State University

• Karen Allen Keene, North Carolina State University

• Tianna Bogart, Frostburg State University