My dissertation area
was in the field of Geometric Group Theory. However, my interests
have shifted over the last 15 years to the scholarship of teaching and
learning. In particular, my experiences have convinced me that
Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL),
a
student-centered
approach
to
teaching,
where
the
students
are encouraged to work collaboratively
to
(re)discover mathematical truths, solve problems, explain their
reasoning to
others, and develop a deeper understanding of mathematics; all without
direct
instruction from an authority, is the best way to learn mathematics.
This has culminated with my collaboration with my colleagues,
Drs. Julian Fleron, Volker Ecke and Christine von Renesse in Discovering
the Art of Mathematics,
an
NSF
funded
project
(NSF Grant # DUE-1225915)
to
create
a library of eleven inquiry-based
learning guides for Mathematics for Liberal Arts courses, associated
Teacher Guides, and promote IBL techniques.
Publications
The Boundary of
a Busemann Space, Proc. Amer. Math.
Soc., 125 (1997) pp. 1903-1912.
First-Year and
Senior Seminars: Dual Seminars=Stronger
Mathematics Majors, with Julian Fleron, PRIMUS, 11,
No.
4,
(2001)
pp.
289
-
325.
It's Perfectly
Rational, The College Mathematics
Journal, 33, No. 2, (2002) pp. 113 - 117.
The Growth of Trees
(a student research project),
with John Meier, The College Mathematics Journal, 35,
No.
2,
(2004)
pp.
143
-
151.
