Associate Chair, Mathematics

Associate Professor, Teaching

Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences

Institute for the Study of University Pedagogy

University of Toronto, Mississauga

📚 Office: Deerfield Hall (DH) #3094

📩 Email: [email protected]

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Teaching

All of my course websites and content are hosted on UofT's Learning Management System, Quercus (q.utoronto.ca).

The courses I've taught most recently are: Linear Algebra I (MAT223), Introduction to Mathematical Logic (MAT309), Introduction to Combinatorics (MAT344), and Calculus for Life Sciences (MAT132/4).

Advising

If you are a current or prospective undergraduate student in MCS, and in Mathematics in particular, and you have questions about programs, courses, etc, please email the MCS Undergraduate Counselor for MAT/STA, Laura Ferlito ([email protected]) or myself, in my role as Associate Chair, Math.

Current Projects

Please email me if you would like more information about any of the items below, or are interested in contributing or collaborating.

• Studying whether students prefer (or not) and thrive (or not) in courses delivered with various forms of hybrid (partially-online) instruction.
  • In 23-24 Prof. Jaimal Thind and I collected data about student experience and success in the three different hybrid delivery modes (in-person exclusively, some online lectures, all online lectures) in MAT223. We will be analyzing this data in the coming year.
• Incorporating and studying a variety of active learning techniques, including **Inquiry-Based Learning** (IBL), and helping instructors use more active learning in their own teaching.
  • Here is a short note about a recent course redesign undertaken with some colleagues.
  • This work is partially funded through a UTM Teaching Development and Innovation Grant (TDI) and is done is collaboration with several MAT faculty.
  • The main contacts are myself and Prof. Jaimal Thind.
• Developing and studying the curricula we offer at UTM in the MCS department (courses, programs, and how they all connect) and engaging colleagues in the process.
  • This work is partially funded through a UofT Learning Education Advancement Fund (LEAF) Impact grant, and is done in collaboration with an interdisciplinary group of other MCS faculty.
  • The main contacts are myself and Prof. Bogdan Simion.
• Developing students’ mathematical reading comprehension (MRC) and writing skills in our introductory mathematics courses.
  • Here is a poster and set of slides about recent collaborative work in this area. (This relates to the same course redesign mentioned above.)
• Studying what interventions are effective to help students transition from secondary to university-level mathematics.
  • In Fall 2022, a short set of modules on the MathMatize platform were rolled-out (developed by a team of six faculty over the 21-22 academic year) to help Introduction to Proofs students with the switch from high school math to proofs. We are studying whether students’ use of these modules improves their course outcomes, as well as aiming to improve these for wider use.
• Organizing and improving professional development events for teaching assistants and instructors in our department.
  • In 2020 and 2021, I was the primary organizer of and a speaker at the MCS TA Day, a full-day workshop with a range of sessions for new and experienced TAs across math, stats and computer science.
  • In those same years I began two instructor-focused events in the MCS department - the MCS Teaching Workshop and the Summer Instructor Showcase, which give instructors an opportunity to learn from their colleagues and show off their recent pedagogical work.