Special Interest Group of the MAA
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SIGMAA on Research in
Undergraduate Mathematics Education

Mentoring Mini-grant Program


Purpose.

The purpose of the SIGMAA on RUME Mentoring Mini-Grants is to promote quality research by fostering mentoring relationships which will benefit the professional development of new (and newer) researchers in the field of undergraduate mathematics education. These one year grants will typically be from $500-$2,000. Some exceptional research projects, possibly with larger groups, may receive up to $4,000. Recipients can apply for additional grant funding in subsequent years provided they write a new proposal and have submitted all status reports for previous grants. The continuation of this grant program is dependent upon existing external funding.

Requirements.

  1. Research. Research must be in undergraduate mathematics education. The specific research project must be described. It must be connected to existing research literature in undergraduate mathematics education or there must be an explanation why no such connection exists. The proposal must describe: the specific research question and its significance, the proposed theoretical framework to be used in answering the research question, and other methodological issues involved in the study.

  2. Personnel.

    1. The research group must include at least one established or experienced researcher in undergraduate mathematics education. Recent Ph.D.s in mathematics education could be considered experienced, especially if they are mentoring colleagues or other mathematical professionals who are new to mathematics education research. The experienced researcher or researchers must be full participants in the research project.

    2. The research group must also include at least one new or newer researcher in undergraduate mathematics education. Certainly those with no formal training in RUME and little experience in this area would qualify. Those with a Ph.D. in mathematics education could qualify if there are explicit reasons given that additional mentoring is appropriate and necessary. Graduate students in RUME may also be supported if it is clear that mentoring beyond what is available at their graduate institution is appropriate and necessary. These grants should not take the place of reasonable institutional support for graduate work in RUME. The newer researcher or researchers must be full participants in the research project. The proposal must indicate how the newer researcher(s) will benefit from this mentoring relationship.

    3. One member of the research team must be a current member in good standing of the SIGMAA on RUME. (Note: Although all members of the team are not required to be current members of the SIGMAA on RUME, it is highly encouraged that all members join. In the future, additional funding for this team will be considered only if everyone is a member of the SIGMAA on RUME at that time.)

Use of Money.

  1. Travel will be supported for the purposes of bringing this collaborative group of researchers together in order to further the research project and enhance the mentoring relationship. This support may include travel for the purposes of data collection, data analysis, or writing. Money can be used to support airfare (train fare, bus fare) and hotel only. Reimbursement will not cover automobile mileage, travel to or from the airport (train station, bus terminal), or food expenses. Money cannot be used for travel to conferences, meetings, or related professional activity unless explicit and generous time is set aside at the meeting for productive research work. Applicants are encouraged, but not required, to use this support to leverage institutional or other support for travel.

  2. Research expenses such as audio or video tapes or transcribing costs will be supported. Equipment purchases will not be supported. Institutional reimbursement for phone, fax, postage, and the like will also not be supported.

  3. Money cannot be used for course release, summer pay, research stipend, or research participant stipend.

    Only expenses approved during the proposal process will be reimbursed, unless a request for revision of the way grant money is to be used is made and approved prior to it being spent.

Reporting.

Brief status reports should be given to the SIGMAA on RUME at the time of each request for reimbursement. A final status report should be given to the SIGMAA on RUME at the end of the grant period (one year). Participants who do not provide such reports may have their reimbursements withheld; they will not be eligible for additional support through this RUME Mentoring Mini-Grant program.

Application Process.

Applicants should submit a complete proposal to Barbara Edwards via email at edwards@math.orst.edu. Plain email text or an attached MS Word document are the preferred formats.

For early 2003: application deadline for the next round of applications is February 28th, 2003 with notification of awards by March 15, 2003.

The proposal itself should be 3-5 pages of standard text and should address the purpose and requirements listed above in as much detail as possible. A time-table for the research project and details of the requested funding should be presented. Brief (no more than one page each) CV's should be attached for each person who is part of the proposal. These CV's, as well as the body of the proposal, should indicate the level of each individual's experience in RUME.

Evaluation Criteria:

  1. Quality and reasonableness of the research proposal and the likelihood for completion and publication (or other presentation) of the results.

  2. Strength of the mentoring relationship and the benefit of this relationship to the newer researcher(s) in the field of undergraduate mathematics education.

  3. Qualifications of the individuals, especially the mentor(s), to undertake the research project.

Review Committee: The review committee will be chaired by Barbara Edwards. The Executive Committee will appoint two additional members to this review committee.

Timeline: anticipated grant cycles (dates subject to change; changes announced at this site and through the SIGMAA on RUME listserv).

    September and March*  --   Request for proposals;
    November 1st and May 1st   --   Deadline for completed applications
    December and June   --   Final notification of acceptances and rejections.

    *Note change for 2003: January announcement, February 28th deadline for proposals, and March notification.

The review committee may choose to support the proposal in full or in part, may ask the applicants to rewrite the proposal by a given date for reconsideration during this particular grant cycle, or may choose not to support the proposal during this grant cycle.

Previous Recipients.

Fall 2002: Dubinsky (mentor) and da Rosa
    $3,250 for "Teaching the Concept of Recursive Programs."

Spring 2002: Trigueros (mentor) and Hernandez
    $2,100 for "On Students Conceptual Development When using Research Based
        Instructional Materials: Transformation of Functions."

Fall 2001:
Rasmussen (mentor) and Keynes and Marrongelle
    $2200 for "Resources that Help University Professors Adapt Research-Based Instructional Materials."
Krussel (mentor) and Bedros
    $1750 for "Students' Epistemological Views and Their Relationship to Understanding Indirect Proof."
Czarnocha and Prabhu (mentors) and Giraldo
    $2200 for "Visual-Numerical Coordination in Calculus One."
DeVries (mentor) and Arnon
    $1850 for "Research on the Development of the Concept Solution by Linear Algebra Students."

Summer 2001:
Ed Dubinsky, Rafael Martìnez-Planell, Gladys DiCristina, Ana C. Gonzalez, Daniel McGee
    $4000 for two projects: "Understanding Infinite Series" and "From Linearity in 2D to Linearity in 3D."

Summer 2000:
Marilyn Carlson, Eric Hsu, Mike Oehrtman
    $2400 for "Calculus Learning."
Art Clemons, Pao-sheng Hsu, Victoria Boller LaBerge, Richard D. West
    $1800 for "Negotiations in Learning and Teaching in Collegiate Mathematics"
Anne Marie Murray, James Cottrill
    $800 for "The Notion of Function Involved in the Product Rule for Differentiation."
Keith Schwingendorf, Aaron Montgomery
    $1400 "Motivation of the Limit Concept"
Michelle Zandieh, Manya Raman
    $1600 for "Exploring the Relationship Between Proving and Understanding:
        The Concept of Derivative as an Example."

Winter 2000:
Carl Lee & Aklilu Zeleke
    $1000 for "Learning Statistical Concepts & Attitude Changes Using Collaborative Learning."
Pam Crawford & Nell Rayburn
    $1500 for "Modeling Understanding of Cartesian Coordinate Graphs."


Last updated 04 February 2003 by S. Hauk

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