Teaching
Teaching Experiences
I am currently on my second semester of teaching as full time professor. The math classes I have taught at Stonehill College are Precalculus, Calculus I, and Calculus II. Next semester I will be teaching Calculus I, Calculus II, and Abstract Algebra I.
I was a Teaching Assistant at the University of Iowa for a variety of courses including calculus courses, introduction to research for undergraduates, and abstract algebra. Additionally, I was the Primary Instructor for Elementary Functions, where we used the online homework submission program WebAssign.
MSRI-UP
During the Summer of 2014, I worked as a graduate assistant for the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute Undergraduate Program at Berkeley, CA. This program is designed to identify talented students interested in mathematics, especially those from underrepresented groups. The main objective of the program is to introduce them to research in the mathematical sciences, and to create a mentoring network to encourage and support them through a successful graduate program.
The research topic during the Summer of 2014 was Arithmetic Aspects of Elementary Functions under the direction of Dr. Victor Moll from Tulane University. The students were introduced to the subject during the first two weeks. During those two weeks they had daily homework including problem solving and writing codes in Mathematica. At the end of the second week, they were assigned different projects in groups of three. I oversaw three groups whose projects were on Catalan Numbers Modulo 2^a, p-adic Polynomials and Infinite Products and Automatic Sequences, respectively. My duties included grading homework, holding daily office hours, making sure that progress was being made, facilitating resources to the students and helping them develop their presentation skills.
For more information: https://www.msri.org/msri_ups/735
TILE Clasroom Experience
In the search for ways to improve my teaching, I discovered the University of Iowa's project Transform, Interact, Learn, Engage (TILE) which is designed to promote active and collaborative learning in these technology infused classrooms. As adopted by the Learning Spaces Executive Committee of the University of Iowa, these classrooms are equipped with: round tables, a large monitor display for each student table or more, switching technology controlled by the instructor, allowing the instructor to switch images between many different monitor locations, network connectivity (wireless or wired, as appropriate) for student computers (personally owned or supplied by the University), microphones available at each table in larger rooms, andother technology as needed to supply presentation and multi-media content.
In general, I believe the TILE room is ideal for teaching mathematics since the material can be presented in a fun way and we can focus on having the students think critically instead of just listing facts they have to memorize. Additionally, one could take advantage of the technology available to introduce a tricky concept, such as trigonometric functions and plotting their graphs, especially with programs such as Wolfram Alpha that aid in calculations and visualization.
More information on TILE classrooms can be found here: https://its.uiowa.edu/tile