Creating Environments for Fostering Effective Critical Thinking in Mathematics Education (Math-EFFECTs)

The objective of this work is to present a strategy for the development and implementation of the Environments for Fostering Effective Critical Thinking (EFFECTs) pedagogical framework in a mathematics classroom, called Math-EFFECTS. A primary goal of Math-EFFECTs is to enhance the timely integration of mathematical solution techniques with engineering, technology and applied science applications. EFFECTs was developed by a team of researchers at the University of South Carolina under funding from the National Science Foundation. It has been disseminated via the web and has over a dozen practitioners who have applied the framework to concepts such as geotechnical engineering, thermodynamics, mechanics, numerical methods, and scientific visualization, working with students at all stages of their engineering education [1]. The central learning goals of engineering EFFECTs are to (i) improve the understanding and retention of a specific set of concepts that provide core knowledge and (ii) encourage students to recognize and develop critical thinking skills that lead to earlier growth in engineering judgment. The primary application of EFFECTs has focused on enhancing the understanding of underlying engineering concepts and developing critical thinking. However, the framework can also be used to more effectively present and teach core mathematical concepts, encourage the critical mathematical thinking associated with real-world problem solving, and effectively link formal mathematics concepts to students’ applications of mathematics at an earlier stage in their education.