Secondary Collaborators
Marcus Roper, Professor and Undergraduate Vice Chair
Isai Lopez, Lecturer and Academic Coordinator
Inquiry-based learning projects for entry-level mathematics
In Fall 2024, the Teaching and Learning Center funded our inquiry-based learning pilot in Math 1: Precalculus, to improve the learning outcomes for our entry-level, STEM-intending freshman cohort, which is disproportionately comprised of underrepresented minority students. In the pilot, students who passed the inquiry-based learning sections earned an average of one-third of a letter grade higher than those in typical sections. Additionally, students in inquiry-based learning sections most frequently earned an A-, while those in typical sections most frequently earned an F.
Students who pass Math 1 go on to take Math 31A: Differential and Integral Calculus, and the proposed project aims to replicate and build on the success of this pilot to improve learning outcomes in this next course.
The project will replicate the following Fall 2024 Math 1 inquiry-based learning pilot activities in one of the two sections of Math 31A to be offered in Winter 2026:
• Design a sequence of inquiry-based, real-world mathematical modeling or proof-oriented investigations to motivate and build conceptual understanding of the following week’s lectures
• Train course TAs and LAs to implement the investigations in weekly two-hour professional development sessions
• Engage students in the investigations on collaborative learning teams during weekly double-length discussion sections.
The project will additionally provide support for students at risk of earning a D, F, or withdrawing, by adding a personalized coaching component for students who score below 75% on a weekly homework-based quiz.
We expect students in the Math 31A lecture with inquiry-based learning and coaching to earn higher final grades on average, earn grades of D, F, or withdraw at lower rates, and enroll in Math 31B at higher rates. This project is the second step in our aim to develop enthusiastic wrap-around support for UCLA’s entry-level freshman mathematics cohort, which is STEM-intending and predominantly underrepresented, that is based in the science of learning, employs the art of teaching, and backed by data and evidence of success with our own students.