Mix it up

Dr. Selina Vasquez-Mireles, Math Department
Dr. Sandra West, Biology Department

Improving student performance in science and math is the highest priority in secondary education at all levels – national, state, and local. The strong link with teacher quality requires a major rethinking of both how teachers and students are taught math and science as well as the production and retention of high-quality experienced science and math teachers.

“Mix It Up” is a program aimed at (1) providing intense, sustained, systemic, correlated math and science content knowledge and skills to undergraduates (majors and pre-service teachers) and graduates (majors, in-service teachers, and career change candidates); and (2) recruiting, strengthening, and maintaining middle school math and science teachers through an innovative model that utilizes collaboration and mentoring and produces deliverables especially custom-made, research-based, correlated math and science lesson plans using best practices and aligned to national, state, and local standards. In order to accomplish these goals, we will continue to develop, implement, and evaluate the correlated math and science curriculum model to determine if the use of correlated math and science curriculum by trained middle school teachers improves student performance.

Our data indicate the correlated math and science curriculum was effective in improving middle school science and math teachers’ understanding of both math and science. Additionally, the instructors, research and lab assistants delighted in their efforts to correlate the physics and math concepts and are excited about continuing the collaboration on and evaluation of the curriculum.