I work hard to create a student-centered classroom environment, where the students are given more control of their own learning. Much of this philosophy has been shaped by the subject I teach: math. Math has a bad reputation, with many students having difficulty learning the subject, and claiming to dislike it and be bad at it. Part of why this is true for so many is because math is often taught as a subject to be memorized, and not understood.
My classroom has always involved active learning, but I have begun to use more principles of inquiry based learning (IBL). My classes now work through printed activities that I have designed to encourage group work, while I walk around the classroom answering questions and helping their discussions move along. This helps in several ways: the students must come to class prepared to actively engage with the material, they are forced to quickly notice which topics they do not understand and ask about them, which helps them become more comfortable asking me or their classmates for alternate explanations. This also helps them practice describing technical topics to each other.
This course structure allows me to observe my students working in groups, solving problems and overcoming issues on the day, and experimenting with technology in the class sessions. Their projects type assignments also give me a chance to see them give written explanations for technical problems.
For more information about my teaching philosophy, experience, and pedagogy, please see my full teaching statement.
Professional Development
Project NExT: “Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) is a professional development program for new or recent Ph.D.s in the mathematical sciences. It addresses all aspects of an academic career: improving the teaching and learning of mathematics, engaging in research and scholarship, finding exciting and interesting service opportunities, and participating in professional activities. It also provides the participants with a network of peers and mentors as they assume these responsibilities.” I am a part of the Red ’22 cohort of the program. Over the course of MathFest 2022, I attended a variety of workshops, including some on inquiry practices in the classroom, social justice practices in data science, and advising for math majors on non-academic careers. I will also be meeting with my teaching support group roughly once a month for the rest of the academic year.
New Faculty Development Workshop at Rockhurst: Over the course of the academic year, we covered a variety of topics including teaching excellence and evaluations, designing classroom activities and student oriented syllabi, and methods of student learning assessment. I will continue with the next stage of the faculty development workshops over the course of the 2022-23 year.
Pathways to Calculus at ASU: the program was “designed to develop students’ conceptual knowledge, problem solving abilities and skills that are foundational for success in calculus.” They have been working for over two decades with other schools around the country on improving Precalculus curriculum through intensive study. I worked for five semesters as a Graduate TA with their program, which included a year of seminar meetings on student learning outcomes, and coordination of exams.
Teaching Experience
Missouri Western State University: I will be starting in the Fall 2023 semester.
- Fall 2023
- Introductory Statistics (4 Units) (2 Sections)
- College Algebra
Rockhurst University: I was the instructor of record for all courses, with coordination of standards and textbooks, but final say over all other course materials, including lectures, homework, and exams. In Fall 2022, I used the resources found with Active Calculus as the textbook for each class. Teaching materials for specific courses are available upon request.
- Spring 2023
- Precalculus (Online)
- Calculus 2 – Integral Calculus (4 units)
- Linear Algebra
- Fall 2022
- Precalculus
- Calculus 2 – Integral Calculus (4 units)
- Calculus 3 – Multivariable Calculus (4 units)
- Spring 2022
- Fall 2021
- Precalculus (2 sections)
- Calculus 3 – Multivariable Calculus (Online, 4 units)
- First Year Seminar (1 unit)
Arizona State University: Unless otherwise specified, I was the instructor of record for each class. Fall and Spring classes were coordinated courses, while I was given complete control over any Summer classes I taught. Async classes involved Zoom lectures during the regularly scheduled class time.
- Spring 2021
- Calculus 2 for Engineers (Async)
- Fall 2020
- Recitation Leader – Combinatorics Qualifier Exam (Async)
- Grader – Combinatorics (Undergraduate and Graduate sections), and Group Theory
- Summer 2020
- Calculus 2 for Math Majors (4 units) (Async)
- Spring 2020
- Recitation Leader – Calculus 3 for Math Majors (2 sections) (Async after 03/2020)
- Grader – Intro to Number Theory
- Fall 2019
- Recitation Leader – Calculus 3 for Math Majors (2 sections)
- Grader – Group Theory
- Spring 2019
- Calculus 2 for Engineers
- Fall 2016- Fall 2018
- Precalculus with the Pathways to Calculus Program (1 section per semester)
- Summer 2018
- Calculus 2 for Engineers
- Summer 2017
- Calculus 1 for Math Majors (4 units)
California State University, Fresno: I was the instructor of record for the 2015-2016 academic year, and for the three summer programs. For more information about Summer Bridge, please see my Diversity page.
- Summer 2016
- Math Placement Test Preparation Instructor – 2 week program
- Fall 2015 – Spring 2016
- Math 1R – Developmental Mathematics (2 sections per semester)
- Fall 2014 – Spring 2015
- Supplemental Instructor and Tutor for Abstract Algebra with the Fresno State Learning Center
- Summer 2014, 2015
- Summer Bridge Mathematics Instructor – 3 week program