Goals for Students / Teaching Approaches
The goal for all of my classes is to teach the students the beauty of mathematics. I hope to bring math down off its pedestal and make it accessible for everyone. Finally I hope that my enthusiasm for math is transferred to each of my students to the point of them WANTING to do their homework and solve the next puzzle.
I try my best to achieve these goals by being continuously excited about math and going above and beyond in my lectures, including pictures and stories. I've included some pictures on the left of how I illustrated the Mean Value Theorem to my calculus students during Spring Semester 2013. I love talking about mathematicians, especially Carl Gauss and all of his antics. In addition I actively attempt to engage my students often allowing them to complete definitions, theorems, and of course problems in class and during lecture. I believe that by engaging the students more often it leads to higher attention and retention rates. My teaching continues to evolve and I seem to try more and more things each year. Lately I have been interested in creating online videos to help supplement part of my lectures in order to create more time in class for discussion and learning techniques in addition to standard lectures. I have recently ordered a new camera and will be ordering software soon to make this dream a reality. |