Evidence-based teaching: how do we all get there?

Abstract

There are compelling reasons to shift our pedagogy toward evidence-based active learning methods that substantially improve student success, and now plenty of resources to aid in that shift. These include the recent CBMS Statement on Active Learning, MAA Instructional Practices Guide (IPG), and MIT Electronic Seminar on Mathematics Education. But implementation is neither quick nor easy. There are still plenty of individual, institutional, cultural, and professional obstacles, along with wonderful opportunities. At the 2019 Joint Mathematics Meetings we co-organized a guided discussion -- an ``un-panel'' -- sponsored by the American Mathematical Society's Committee on Education in order to stimulate the process of our community moving toward active learning in our teaching pedagogy. Seventy participants with fifteen discussion leaders expanded an initial list of issues, and considered questions around both challenges and opportunities. Here we summarize from these discussions, suggesting areas for collaborative efforts ranging from local colleagues and educational institutions to national and global professional societies.