Math is a word as broad in definition as it is scorned by the students that have to stumble over it in their educational efforts. While it may provide students with unnerving stress and difficulty, there are crusaders of this discomforting language that have adopted their own style of accessible and practical teaching methods that have swayed otherwise skeptical students.
Angela Wilkins is one of many math teachers with an engaging, personal and unique approach on the difficult subject. “I do not like memorizing rules- frankly because I have trouble remembering them. I try to teach the reasoning behind the rules, so that the rules of mathematics make sense and seem less arbitrary”, said Wilkins.
“Ever since I’ve been in this class, the teacher has made it easier to learn and memorize math”, said David Cabrera, a 19-year old student in Wilkins’ math class.
Other teachers like Charles Goodman, and PhilipAbramoff use a different method to teach their students. Goodman believes that his method of teaching not only makes math easier to understand, but also leaves an impression. “They gain an intuitive understanding of the material that gives them a foundation on which to base a true understanding of the material and which helps to remember it after the class is over,” said Goodman.
These teachers also allow students to approach them before and after class, enabling those that aren’t quite grasping the material another opportunity to familiarize themselves. “Having my teacher being able to help me one on one is such a big help,” said Jacob Carrion, an 18-year old student at Moorpark College.
The success ratio for students has increased due to teachers like Goodman and Wilkins with their successful methods of making it math more accessible and engaging. Wilkins also believes that students are becoming more successful with her teaching method because of her application of the lecture material. “I have written the lecture notes, which I copy and distribute to students. We then fill in the lecture notes in class. This gives students freedom to think about what we are doing rather than just furiously copying notes as I work problems on the board,” explained Wilkins on her method.
Even with the foundation of a great teacher, we still need assistance. For those students there are other viable resources. At Moorpark College, there is a Math Center available on the third floor of the Library and Learning Resources Building. There they offer workshops and study sessions for specific branches of math as well as drop-in’s and limited appointment tutoring for other tough subjects like biology, chemistry, physics economics and accounting. For more information on the Math Center, email [email protected], or call 805-378-1556.
