{"id":11745,"date":"2024-12-23T10:21:18","date_gmt":"2024-12-23T16:21:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin-new\/?post_type=campus_story&p=11745"},"modified":"2024-12-23T10:21:18","modified_gmt":"2024-12-23T16:21:18","slug":"a-formula-for-success-uwl-math-education-ta-program-making-a-difference-for-future-educators","status":"publish","type":"campus_story","link":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/story\/a-formula-for-success-uwl-math-education-ta-program-making-a-difference-for-future-educators\/","title":{"rendered":"A formula for success: UWL Math Education TA Program making a difference for future educators"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"Photo<\/a>
Caitlin Herminath (center), a senior majoring in mathematics education, is one of a handful of students who have benefitted from UWL’s new Math Education Teaching Assistant Program. The program allows aspiring educators to gain experience co-leading a general education math course that closely mirrors what they will see in an actual high school.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A new program in UWL\u2019s\u00a0Math<\/span><\/span>ematics<\/span>\u00a0& Statistics Department<\/a>\u00a0is helping to mold the next generation of\u00a0math<\/span>\u00a0educators.<\/p>\n

During a curriculum redesign in 2020-21, several instructors came together to brainstorm a better way to prepare students interested in teaching middle and high school\u00a0math<\/span>\u00a0after college.<\/p>\n

The result was the\u00a0Math<\/span>\u00a0Education<\/span>\u00a0Teaching Assistant Program, which allows aspiring educators to gain experience co-leading a general\u00a0education<\/span>\u00a0math<\/span>\u00a0course that closely mirrors what they will see in an actual high school.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost students who become\u00a0math<\/span>\u00a0teachers do it because\u00a0math<\/span>\u00a0was their favorite subject in school,\u201d says\u00a0Matthew Chedister<\/a>, associate professor of\u00a0math<\/span><\/span>ematics<\/span>\u00a0and statistics. \u201cBut most students who\u00a0ta<\/span>ke college algebra at a university see it as a gen ed or a pathway to other classes they want to\u00a0ta<\/span>ke.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur preservice teachers tend to be strong\u00a0math<\/span>\u00a0students, but this is the first time they have to explain something or work with a student, and it helps them to recognize all the parts of\u00a0math<\/span>\u00a0they don\u2019t fully understand or can\u2019t yet explain. The skills needed to teach something are much deeper than the skills needed to pass a test.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"\"
Matthew Chedister, associate professor of mathematics and statistics, says help from Herminath and other teaching assistants has allowed him to spend more one-on-one time with students.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Each semester, the program enlists a small handful of\u00a0math<\/span>\u00a0education<\/span>\u00a0students to assist in courses in college algebra, precalculus or statistics.<\/p>\n

As teaching assistants, they attend about two classes each week, supporting the instructor in explaining the lesson and fielding questions. Often, they also run office hours and coordinate test review sessions.<\/p>\n

Caitlin Herminath, a senior\u00a0math<\/span><\/span>ematics<\/span>\u00a0education<\/span>\u00a0major from New London, was a teaching assistant in Chedister\u2019s fall 2023 college algebra course.<\/p>\n

She says the experience was hugely beneficial in honing her craft as both a\u00a0math<\/span>ematician and a teacher.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirst, it refamiliarized me with content that I have not worked with in years,\u201d she says. \u201cBeing able to hear Dr. Chedister teach concepts in a different way than I may have learned them gave me another way that I could teach concepts when I am in a classroom of my own.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a\u00a0TA<\/span>\u00a0(also) allowed me to see the misconceptions that students carry with them surrounding certain content, which will help me address those misconceptions in my own classroom one day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chedister has seen firsthand how the program can make a positive difference for students. But it also eases the burden on faculty, allowing them to improve their own teaching.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of these classes have 30 to 40 students in them, and when multiple students have questions at the same time, it can be difficult to work the room,\u201d Chedister says. \u201cHaving Caitlin in the room with me \u2014 she\u2019s a strong teacher candidate, she knows the\u00a0math<\/span>, and she was able to help explain it to students who might be struggling. By having an extra body in the room, we have the opportunity to interact with more students and have deeper discussions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Herminath, who is set to student teach in the spring, says it was particularly helpful to work with first- and second-year students at UWL \u2014 a similar population to the one she\u2019ll be teaching at her future high school.<\/p>\n

Serving as a teaching assistant helped her overcome another important obstacle in her journey to becoming a teacher: gaining confidence in herself.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a\u00a0TA<\/span>\u00a0helped me become more comfortable in a classroom environment,\u201d she says. \u201cIn the past, I have tutored and\u00a0ta<\/span>ught students in small groups. Teaching in front of a large class, however, is a little more challenging and intimidating. Having this space to get over any anxieties that come with public speaking was helpful to me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Written by UW-La Crosse<\/p>\n

Link to original story: https:\/\/www.uwlax.edu\/news\/posts\/a-formula-for-success\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new program in UWL\u2019s\u00a0Mathematics\u00a0& Statistics Department\u00a0is helping to mold the next generation of\u00a0math\u00a0educators. During a curriculum redesign in 2020-21, several instructors came together to brainstorm a better way to prepare students interested in teaching middle and high school\u00a0math\u00a0after college. The result was the\u00a0Math\u00a0Education\u00a0Teaching Assistant Program, which allows aspiring educators to gain experience co-leading a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":11749,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","institution":[104],"story_category":[],"class_list":["post-11745","campus_story","type-campus_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","institution-uw-la-crosse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story\/11745","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/campus_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/campus_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11745"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"institution","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/institution?post=11745"},{"taxonomy":"story_category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wisconsin.edu\/all-in-wisconsin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/story_category?post=11745"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}