Games, Logic, Mathematics: Pre-service Teachers Developing Engaging Activities for Middle School Latin@ / African American Students

The 2010 National Assessment of Educational Progress Scores for 8th graders indicate that African American and Latina/o students are not achieving in mathematics as White or Asian students. Research shows positive effects that qualified teachers have on students' mathematics achievement. We will document the experiences of undergraduate mathematics students leading an after school program to engage Latina/o and African American middle school students. This study combines qualitative and quantitative methods. The survey will ask questions of the undergraduate mathematics students regarding their self-efficacy developing lessons, the mathematics, and facilitating activities. The qualitative aspect will involve data collected during debriefing sessions for them to reflect on their experiences in the after school program. Due to the small sample (less than ten), I will use descriptive statistics. The qualitative data will be coded into various categories that emerge as the data is analyzed. Data is in the collection phase. We hope to identify some successes, challenges, and tensions experienced by the undergraduate students: some may find it challenging to develop mathematically rich lessons; others may struggle to facilitate the activities. We suspect that reflecting on their own identities and their knowledge of mathematics may be a significant factor for them in terms of their ‘success' and challenges. Our goal is to provide teaching opportunities to future secondary mathematics teachers as they provide creative and innovative mathematical experiences to underserved middle school students. Ultimately, we want to increase the number of historically marginalized students in STEM majors and careers.