Assessing Mathematical Sensemaking in Science (AMASS)

Female student doing mathematics on white board

Principal Investigator: Kevin Haudek

Co-Principal Investigators: Melanie Cooper and Rachel Henderson

Project Partners: Jennifer Kaplan of Middle Tennessee State University, Anita Schuchardt of the University of Minnesota, and Michael Fleming of the University of California-Stanislaus.

Project Dates: March 15, 2023 - February 28, 2027 (estimated)

Award Amount: $699,918.00

Funder: U.S. National Science Foundation

 

Mathematical sensemaking in science (MaSS) focuses on students’ ability to blend core disciplinary science ideas with cross-cutting mathematical concepts, such as patterns and proportions, while engaging in scientific practices such as computational thinking, making predictions, and reasoning from evidence.

This project seeks to extend previous work to identify opportunities for MaSS in the classroom to develop open-ended assessment tasks. The project will use results from these assessments to explore how a diverse set of undergraduates engage in MaSS across biology, chemistry, and physics. It meets the desired societal outcomes of improving STEM education at the undergraduate level by providing engaging and authentic assessments capable of revealing student thinking. Findings will help inform teaching practice in undergraduate STEM courses and help students foster computational thinking skills, and will advance understanding of how undergraduates integrate thinking about key STEM concepts and mathematics across disciplines by following a 3DL assessment framework.

Read more about this project.

Clear keys input element