I often feel that I am so busy teaching, advising, and doing committee work, that little time is left for intellectual contributions. However, I still do my best to devote as much time to intellectual contributions as I can.
During the 2019-2020 school year, I started a research project using my mathematics students at Nichols. I also worked on a few other projects that are listed below.
Annual Faculty Report
NAME: Jennifer Fleury
I have attached the report that we needed to submit to the Vice-President of Academic Affairs for the purpose of documenting faculty professional development for accreditation purposes.
Mediation and Math Anxiety Study
During the 2018-2019 year, I began a research project on the Impact of Meditation and Math Anxiety.
The overview of the study, along with the math anxiety scale and the mid-semester survey, is also given below.
Disclosure
Math Anxiety Scale
Math and Meditation Mid Semester Survey
IRB Application
I initially choose the topic because I am passionate about finding a method to help improve student outcomes in required college mathematics classes. (My doctoral dissertation, listed below, was on Outcomes in Required College Mathematics classes.) My hypothesis for the study is that two minutes of guided meditation at the beginning of a mathematics class can reduce mathematics anxiety in students. Of course, if this proves to be true, I would then like to try to show that reduced anxiety improves student course outcomes.
As I only generally teach two math classes per semester, I recruited Mark Naigles. Each of us meditated in one of our classes (our experimental group) in the spring 2019 and fall 2019 semesters. We did not meditate in another section of the same course (our control group).
However, I do have some qualitative analysis of surveys that I gave the students that showed positive trends that seem to warrant further investigation.
Initial, rudimentary analysis of the quantitative data showed positive results, and I was excited to get the results analyzed.
However, when the RAI who had agreed to work with me backed out of the data entry and analysis portion that I needed assistance in completing, academic affairs denied support for another RAI or work study student to help me with the quantitative data analysis. This lack of support was truly disheartening for me as I had worked hard on this project and know that other projects have been supported in the past.
Therefore, the lack of support from AA, combined with a lack of time to complete all of the “number crunching and data entry” that was required, caused me to abandon the project (at least for now). The unusual COVID classroom and the departure of my “co meditator” Mark Naigles also strengthened my decision to abandon further research for now.
Compilation of Qualitative Data
Dissertation:
Fleury, J. A. (2016). Outcomes in Required College Mathematics Courses
(Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from Proquest ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (10546).
FDC Presentations
In addition to planning the FDC event, I also often share my expertise on certain subjects. For instance, I presented a workshop for Nichols faculty and staff on Canvas.
DCU for Kids Scholarship
I also agreed to grade scholarship applications from students around the country as part of the DCU for Kids scholarship program.
