Next Steps in OMP

We have received funding from the NSF to adapt and expand the successes of the Online Mentoring Project (OMP) by developing tools to build mathematical understanding through innovative curriculum and community interactions. The Virtual Fieldwork Sequence is being developed and field-tested during the spring of 2008.

The OMP was used repeatedly over the three years of funding in courses taught by faculty in nine colleges and universities. Research on the OMP indicates that it was well-received by both university faculty and students (Renninger, Luft, & Ray, 2006; Underwood & Bower, 2004). These data suggest that use of the OMP contributes to pre-service teachers' positive attitudes about doing math and about working with students as they do math. However, the research also showed that for the OMP to support preservice teachers (PTs) to its full potential, PTs need stronger mathematics preparation and deeper mathematical understanding.

• Module 1: Problem Solving is being designed to
  • build math content knowledge.
  • develop ability to communicate about mathematics.
• Module 2: Diagnostics will develop PTs ability to analyze others’ mathematical work in order to diagnose what is and is not understood.
• Module 3: Mentoring will support K-12 pupil learning with feedback that supports the development of content knowledge. It will maintain the highly valued opportunities for undergraduates to mentor real K-12 students, but it will be revised as part of this grant to include more problem content tailored to the needs of the participating undergraduates.

While all three modules will be designed to be used together in a face-to-face course, they can also be used independently.