The new R & D effort is called the Online Mathematics Initiative, and its current focus is on "creating an environment for students to work independently through math curriculum," says Joey Offer, the Initiative’s project manager.

The Initiative is being driven by an impressive team of UT Austin faculty, representatives from the governor’s office and the Texas Education Agency, state-certified high school mathematics teachers, and national experts in fields such as instructional design and teaching with technology in math education.

The first phase of the Initiative examined best current teaching and learning practices for mathematics. From this research, the team proposes a modified problem-based theoretical framework for the teaching and learning of mathematics online to independent learners.

This new theoretical framework will be used to develop an Algebra I course. The Algebra I course will be the catalyst for researching the effectiveness of the theoretical framework, as well as for making any necessary changes before using the framework to develop subsequent mathematics courses.

"We really feel that Algebra I is a gate-keeping course for many students," says Offer. "If they can’t finish Algebra I, they are not going to go on to higher level mathematics courses or professional jobs that require a mathematical background." Moreover, Algebra I falls under state-approved and national-reform high school standards, and passing rates in Algebra I for Texas students have been low. The Initiative could help change things for the better by "providing students with the mathematical foundations that will lead to a deeper understanding and appreciation for mathematics," Offer claims.

Accomplishing such a worthy goal comes with its set of challenges. One of the barriers to effective online, asynchronous learning discovered within UT Austin’s online math courses was that students still had to use snail-mail to submit homework assignments. "We wanted our students to get quicker feedback on their learning processes," says Offer. "We wanted them to be able to communicate (with their instructors over the Internet instead of by snail-mail) using graphs and math symbols. We could not do that in an online environment because the tools were not available." Consequently the Initiative is in the process of both finding any online math tools available today as well as creating new tools to integrate into math courses.

Another challenge revolves around the fact that self-paced, independent-study learners don’t have the benefit of taking part in highly interactive, community-building learning environments typically found in face-to-face or time-specific online math classes. One way to possibly accommodate for the lack of interaction is to provide unique support structures in a problem-based learning (PBL) environment.

"When we first started looking at the research we found that problem-based learning is very effective, especially for students at this level," says Offer. "What that means is you give the student a very complex problem and you then structure the instruction around the problem so that the student can anchor back into the problem and discuss different mathematical concepts and understandings.

"Since we are working with independent learners, we need to modify the traditional problem-based learning theoretical perspective so that we can create scaffolds to support the online learning environment that replicate those that students typically gain from working together."

In order to accomplish this, the Initiative is going to pilot Algebra I course materials in face-to-face environments this fall. "We will be researching the effectiveness of these modules as they are demonstrated in the Algebra I course," says Offer. "We will see how students interact and how teachers intervene to make sure that we have the appropriate scaffolds to support the online environment."

Additionally, the Initiative is looking at other effective teaching and learning strategies. For example, journaling components will be included in the Algebra I class, whereby students learn to write about mathematics. "Most students have no experience doing that, which means we have to create learning modules that not only teach students how to write about mathematics but also how to talk and communicate online mathematically," Offer explains. "Then we have to incorporate those modules inside the right places of the course so the environment is seamless and so the modules that we are creating to support that kind of learning can be used in all of our math and sciences courses. This is an example of how the modules will transfer to other courses."