Conference: Expanding the Impact of Project NExT

This project aims to serve the national interest by providing faculty in the mathematical sciences high-quality professional development focusing on evidence-based teaching practices through the Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) program. The support provided by this project will offered to 10-25 early career mathematical sciences faculty who face financial barriers to attendance. Project NExT is an application-based program that requires an institutional commitment to pay registration and travel expenses for fellows selected into the program for 3 conferences across 2 years. Fellows that meet the eligibility criteria for Project NExT but are unable to accept the fellowship because of lack of funding from their institution will be offered additional funding to make their participation possible. In this way the project will engage faculty who teach at institutions that make up a significant portion of students taught in the U.S. but whose faculty may lack resources to attend this professional development program. This conference seeks to utilize the Mathematical Association of America’s (MAA’s) network of educators and researchers to create an opportunity for 10-25 faculty to convene at MAA to convene at three national meetings to build networks and to engage in professional development that will support their work as faculty in the mathematical sciences. Faculty selected will then be supported in the development of proposals to the NSF IUSE:EDU program based on their undergraduate education experiences as faculty in different contexts in higher education. The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.