Irene Duranczyk, Ed.D., associate professor in the Department of Postsecondary Teaching and Learning, is a recipient of the University’s Multicultural Teaching and Learning Fellowship, sponsored by the Center for Teaching and Learning. The title of Duranczyk’s project is “SocioCultural Mathematics Literacy through Statistics: The story behind the numbers, the numbers behind the story.”
The Multicultural Teaching and Learning Fellowships aim to support a wide range of multicultural teaching and learning projects — from those in incubation stages (thinking, researching, talking, reflecting) to those with ideas, materials, and analyses nearly ready to be shared with a range of academic and community groups.
This project will explore ways to increase mathematical literacy through statistics by using student reflections, class assignments, group projects, and focus groups for statistical power. The purpose of this classroom-based research work will be to expand understanding and practice of teaching and learning in a multicultural context. Students will not have to leave prior knowledge or their cultural identity at the classroom door but will build on their experience and knowledge.