Speaker
Description
Place-based mathematics pedagogy can increase student engagement and persistence in the classroom, at a time when maintaining student attention is increasingly difficult. By focusing on relevance, this pedagogical framework enables students to connect their lived experiences to mathematics, thereby supporting engagement and persistence in the classroom. Mathematical biologists often focus on topics of particular interest to students of this generation, such as public health, sustainability, and environmental change. Mathematical biology, therefore, has the unique potential to bring “place” into the classroom in a way that other areas of theoretical and applied mathematics cannot. In this talk, I will share my experience working to integrate place-based pedagogy, mathematical biology, and culturally relevant teaching practices with educators in Hawaiʻi. I will discuss practical ways of incorporating place-based practices into your own math classrooms.
