{"id":407,"date":"2017-03-11T12:28:10","date_gmt":"2017-03-11T17:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/inclusionexclusion\/?p=407"},"modified":"2017-07-06T13:14:33","modified_gmt":"2017-07-06T17:14:33","slug":"equity-in-review-reflections-on-equity-research-perspectives-at-the-2017-rume-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/inclusionexclusion\/2017\/03\/11\/equity-in-review-reflections-on-equity-research-perspectives-at-the-2017-rume-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Equity in Review: Reflections on Equity Research Perspectives at the 2017 RUME Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

SIGMAA on RUME<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Special Interest Group of the Mathematical Association of America on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (SIGMAA on RUME)<\/a> was established for the advancement of quality research in undergraduate mathematics education (RUME) and its implications for teaching practices. One of the annual SIGMAA on RUME initiatives is the RUME Conference. The conference is intended to serve as an exchange of research findings from projects addressing issues related to the learning and teaching of undergraduate mathematics through plenary addresses, contributed and preliminary research paper sessions, and poster presentations. This year\u2019s RUME Conference<\/a>, jointly hosted by San Diego State University and the University of California – San Diego, was held at the Kona Kai Resort in San Diego, CA from Thursday, February 23 through Saturday, February 25 with a record-high attendance of over 350 registered conference participants.<\/p>\n

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Discussions about issues of diversity, equity, and social justice have certainly been gaining momentum in the SIGMAA on RUME community, including the 2017 RUME Conference. It has been both an honor and pleasure to participate in these important conversations over the past year. This was my second year attending the RUME Conference and serving as a co-facilitator for the Equity in Undergraduate Mathematics Education <\/em>pre-conference working group with Aditya (Adi) Adiredja<\/a> (The University of Arizona). I also had the honor to serve as a plenary speaker on equity research perspectives during the RUME with a View <\/em>working conference<\/a> funded by the National Science Foundation (Division of Undergraduate Education\u00a0Grant No.\u00a01646996<\/a>) and organized by Milos Savic<\/a> (The University of Oklahoma) and Gulden Karakok<\/a> (University of Northern Colorado). Held on October 2016 in The University of Oklahoma, RUME with a View <\/em>was a two-day working conference that focused on offering opportunities for faculty and graduate students to develop research agendas in undergraduate mathematics education. Topics spanned student learning, pre-calculus and calculus courses, proofs and problem solving, equity, and statistics and quantitative literacy.<\/p>\n

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A Framework on Equity Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

For the rest of this blog entry, I will use a framework from my plenary presentation as well as written notes and conversations from RUME with a View <\/em>to synthesize insights across various equity-oriented research report presentations that I attended during the 2017 RUME Conference. This reflective analysis is intended to explore how equity in undergraduate mathematics education is currently discussed and addressed in the RUME community, and to identify possible areas and approaches for future research. The blog entry concludes with a discussion of \u201cproblems of practice\u201d in undergraduate mathematics education identified during the Equity in Undergraduate Mathematics Education <\/em>pre-conference working group and how research implications from my reflective analysis of equity-oriented presentations at the 2017 RUME Conference can serve as possible starting points to address them. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

My plenary presentation during RUME with a View<\/em> entitled \u201cPipelines, Pedagogy, and Participation\u201d (Leyva, 2016c) took stock on developments in equity research in undergraduate mathematics education using a framework with three categories to organize the extant literature: outcome-based, institution-oriented, and student-oriented. Outcome-based research largely focuses on quantitative analyses of major choice and retention across the pipeline in undergraduate mathematics or STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics). Institution-oriented research is comprised of studies that qualitatively and\/or qualitatively examine ways in which institutional players and structures, including faculty members, course designs, and student support programs, promote inclusion and responsiveness to marginalized communities\u2019 needs in undergraduate mathematics. Student-oriented research centers marginalized students\u2019 experiences in undergraduate mathematics to detail how mathematics can serve as a socially exclusionary space that impacts participation and identities.<\/p>\n

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It should be noted that my reflective analysis presented here is limited to presentations that I was able to attend during the 2017 RUME Conference while capturing different theoretical and methodological approaches used in pursuing equity-oriented research. There were several other important works presented at the conference that raise the need for equity considerations in undergraduate mathematics education. This includes but not limited to:<\/p>\n