Czocher awarded NSF grant to study mathematical modeling skills

<div class="newscaption">Jennifer Czocher has been awarded a National Science Foundation grant to study how undergraduate science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students learn mathematical modeling skills.</div>

SAN MARCOS – Jennifer Czocher, assistant professor of mathematics at Texas State University, has been awarded a National Science Foundation grant to study how undergraduate science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students learn mathematical modeling skills.

The five-year Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) grant was awarded by the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program of the Division of Undergraduate Education of NSF. The $950,000 grant will fund Czocher’s research project, "Scaffolding Strategies for Undergraduate Mathematical Modeling Skills." 

The CAREER program offers the National Science Foundation’s most prestigious awards in support of junior faculty who exemplify the role of teacher-scholars through outstanding research, excellent education and the integration of education and research.

Mathematical modeling and quantitative reasoning are key problem-solving skills for successful interdisciplinary collaboration. However, typical mathematics classes often focus on solving existing mathematics problems without sufficient attention to important aspects of modelling: Formulating mathematical problems to solve, and validating the mathematical models that arise. But STEM students do not easily transfer their knowledge of mathematics concepts and procedures to real-world settings. 

Czocher's project will build on the theories and methods developed during her 2018 Australia Endeavour Fellowship at Australian Catholic University to identify scaffolding strategies that best support the growth of STEM students’ modeling skills.