July 8, 2024 • 19 mins
Have a question or want to share some thoughts? Send us a text message!
Ever wondered how to make math not just understandable but also exciting? Join us as we uncover innovative teaching techniques with Corey Placito, a dynamic lecturer in the University at Buffalo's math department. Since 2012, Corey has honed his methods through trial and error, becoming a master at connecting with diverse learning styles and fostering a student-centric environment. Discover how he uses multimodal learning and exciting Python projects to transform his differential equations classes, making math more approachable and engaging. Corey's public speaking skills and his knack for student engagement are just the tip of the iceberg in this enlightening conversation.
In this episode, Corey also reveals the secrets to building student confidence in math by balancing real-world applications with pure mathematical theory. Learn his strategies for reducing math anxiety, such as flexible syllabi and grading transparency. Corey also shares the powerful impact of exit slips on student understanding and retention, and how these simple tools can enhance learning experiences. Get inspired by Corey's commitment to creating a supportive classroom environment where students can thrive and see math as an exciting and accessible subject. Whether you're an educator looking to revamp your teaching approach or a student wanting to conquer math anxiety, this episode is packed with practical insights and strategies you won't want to miss!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Maggie Grady (00:03):
Welcome to the Teaching Table, a monthly
podcast where we'll engage ininsightful conversations about
the dynamic world of teaching,learning and technology within
higher education.
Brought to you by theUniversity at Buffalo Office of
Curriculum Assessment andTeaching Transformation, and
made possible by the generoussupport of the Genteels'
Excellence in Teaching Fund,this podcast aims to shed light
(00:24):
on the pathways to educationalexcellence.
I'm your host, Maggie Grady, alearning designer in CATT.
Today, I'm delighted to bejoined by Dr Corey Placito, a
lecturer for the math department, for a discussion on innovative
teaching, student success andwhat role the instructor plays
in that.
Welcome, Corey, and thank youfor joining me.
Corey Placito (00:44):
Thank you so much for inviting me here to the
podcast.
It's great to see you again,Maggie.
I'm really looking forward tosharing whatever bits of
experience I can have that youcan glean insight from from my
teaching, but wonderful to behere.
Thank you for having me.
Maggie Grady (00:58):
Sure, so I appreciate you taking the time
to chat with us.
When I first thought about whoI wanted to interview and who I
wanted as a guest on theTeaching Table podcast, I wanted
engaging teachers that had aunique approach to reach their
students, and I naturallythought of you.
You and I first met back in2018 in the effective teaching
classes offered by ourdepartment.
(01:19):
How do you feel you haveevolved since you have first
begun teaching?
Corey Placito (01:23):
How have I changed?
Or how has my teaching changed?
I mean, I guess I'd say I'mnothing if not a teacher, so
either is okay, but you know I'dsay I'm a lot more cognizant of
my teaching overall and a lotmore sensitive to different
learning styles of my students.
I feel, in general, that I do abetter job of reaching more of
my students through the lectureand the classroom experience and
(01:44):
I definitely think goingthrough those courses is very
helpful and, you know, at leastopening my eyes to what's
available to me as an instructor, different paths that I can
take to try to reach my studentsand, you know, giving me the
tools necessary to further that.
Being at UB for so long, andI've been teaching here since
2012 which now would be abouthalf of my life, there's been a
(02:09):
lot of changes and I think youdon't really notice that
evolution in the smaller momentsof it, like semester to
semester, and maybe it couldjust be a student asking a
different question that I'venever been asked before and
thinking of you know a responsefor that, trying to get into
their mindset and trying to helpout.
But I think if you were to takea snapshot of me when I first
(02:30):
started teaching at UB andcompare it to a snapshot now,
there's a lot of changes in myteaching.
I think I've gotten much betterat it better at approaching the
material and making it a lotmore comfortable for students.
Right?
I always want to try to keep astudent- minded approach to my
teaching.
Maggie Grady (02:46):
How do you feel that you have changed to adjust
to the students needs, or how doyou adjust to the students
needs?
Corey Placito (02:53):
You know, I really try to be a lot more
student centric.
I try to be very compassionateto their position as a learner
and make sure that they knowthat they can always come to me
asking questions.
After teaching for so manysemesters I really start to see
what the you know.
Maybe it's better to say whatthe incorrect approaches are
(03:17):
right.
If I do something that doesn'tseem to resonate with students,
I'll be one of the first orsecond to realize that.
I think maybe students pick upon that first through their own
experience, their own uniquelens and from a lot of trial and
error.
I think I've really gotten to aplace where now I know the best
ways to approach material, whatorder to sort of go in as well.
I think that's very important,especially in a mathematics
(03:39):
classroom the order that wepresent different, not just
different topics but within aspecific topic.
The order that we presentdifferent, not just different
topics but within a specifictopic, different foundations
that are laid down for thatspecific mathematical device.
I think that's important.
So I'd say, just going throughthe usual life of a professor,
you know, semester to semesterthings really get fine-tuned
throughout you start to realizewhat's important with students,
(04:02):
what resonates well with themand what doesn't, and that
really helps to, I think, fine-ttune that experience into
something that's most beneficialfor them.
Maggie Grady (04:09):
Yeah, I agree with you on that.
So I also ran, and this is I'mnot going to embarrass you, but
on UB Reddit you had such goodreviews I don't know if you've
seen them or not, but you hadthings such as legit the coolest
professor at UB.
People went on to say wish theyhad you as every teacher for
(04:31):
every class.
Other posts said the bestprofessor ever.
So what do you attribute thatto?
Corey Placito (04:39):
That's very kind.
I try not to go on to thosesites too much because any
negative comment will certainlymake me feel not great about it,
but it's nice to hear from youthat there's a lot of positive
things there.
You know, I think that whatmakes me such an effective
educator if I am one at all, tobegin with is I think I'm a very
(05:01):
good public speaker and I thinkthat I do try to be
entertaining, which sometimesdoes not work out in the
classroom, but I think thoseskill sets really lend to
helping out in the classroom.
I think that the subject that Iteach is almost secondary to
that.
I think that I could be a greatlecturer standalone and I think
(05:21):
that really comes from anability to, you know, strong
public speaking skills.
You know trying to connect withstudents, yeah, and a little
bit of entertainment here andthere.
Maggie Grady (05:32):
So the reason that I ask you all of that is
because math for me is, and was,extremely challenging.
So what do you think some ofthe most effective strategies
that you've used to making mathmore approachable to your
students or understandable foryour students?
Corey Placito (05:50):
You know, I think adopting multimodal learning
and incorporating that into theclassroom has been very
important for students,especially in the classes that
I'm teaching differentialequations.
We have Python projects, alittle bit of coding there.
We get really visual with theanswers to viewing responses on
slope fields, phase portraits,things like that.
So there's definitely a verystrong visual aspect to the
(06:11):
course.
I would say that, you know,nothing can really take the
place of or circumvent qualitylecture and I am lucky to be
teaching the course that I'mteaching differential equations,
because students are veryfocused, they want to learn the
material for their major rightand I really do believe, first
and foremost, that greatstudents make good professors
(06:32):
and not the other way around.
So I do think that I am reapingthe benefit of that.
I think that one of the bestways that I could approach
material for students is byhelping with strong scaffolding.
I think that's really at thepith and marrow of everything
that I do as an educator.
I'm always trying to connectwith students and to find the
best way to approach thematerial and, like mentioned, I
(06:53):
do try to be entertaining so thecourse doesn't drag on so much.
It can be a long semester, butI think sometimes the students
could really do without some ofthe anecdotes.
Maggie Grady (07:02):
Yeah, yeah.
No, I think that makes youhuman and they connect with you,
so I think that's kind of nice.
So, moving into innovativeteaching approaches, ai, things
of that nature, so in what waysdo you, if at all, incorporate
real world applications, maybeinnovative teaching approaches
or technologies?
(07:22):
Do you use anything like thatin your courses?
Corey Placito (07:26):
Well.
So the course that I'm teachingdifferential equations is
largely application-based.
So most of what I teach, if notall of what I'm teaching, has
applications at the helm of it.
We do a lot of work with likemass spring dashpot systems,
practical resonance resonancedisaster phase portraits for
predator prey systems asnonlinear systems, which I think
really makes the Jacobian comealive in the mathematics.
(07:48):
So I think that's beautiful.
I think that the you know thereal world applications are
really important for students toget a strong idea as to you
know why we care about what mathhas to offer.
I think sometimes theabstractions can be difficult
for some students.
Arithmetic-based operations,algebra and why are we adding
(08:16):
two numbers together?
Why are we solving for x?
What is the point of this?
And you know, I think it'simportant to have those
applications so that studentscan see why it's so important.
There is a bit of a trade-offto it because I think in some
lower-level courses applicationsmight also mean word problems.
Some students don't love wordproblems, but I think the
applications are very important.
(08:37):
But I do want to mention theother side of that coin.
In my classroom we also discusspure mathematics as well.
I think that's very important.
I mean, I have my unique lensas a mathematician.
I think it's important thatthey have that side of it as
well, because they're in theirmajors.
They have the partnerdisciplines too, that really
focus on the applications ofwhat we're doing, and I think
(08:58):
it's important for the studentsto also be somewhat subjected to
, you know, the abstractions ofpure mathematics, and some
students wind up even enjoyingit.
A few of them will stop me andsay you know, hey, I'm using the
material that we learned inthis class that I'm taking right
, and then they'll go throughand they'll talk about it, and
it just makes me feel great thatthey retain the information.
(09:19):
They're using it in their major, in a different course.
They take good notes and theyhave those to fall back on, and
that, I think, is the mostimportant part, is what happens
after they leave the classroom.
Maggie Grady (09:30):
Yeah.
Corey Placito (09:31):
You know we get our shared time together, which
is wonderful, but I want to makesure that it's doing what it
should be doing for them, andyou know, hearing about those
stories from previous studentsis ah, that's my favorite part.
Maggie Grady (09:42):
Yeah, I'm sure it is.
How do you build the confidencein your students?
Do you experience your studentshaving a lot of math anxiety
and how do you kind of, you know, curb that?
Corey Placito (09:57):
Well, I think this sort of falls under better
consolidation of material.
I think it's just you want tobuild confidence and rapport
with the subject.
So, for example, you want tothink of your favorite thing to
do.
What are some of your favoritethings to do, Maggie?
Maggie Grady (10:08):
I like to hike, I like to swim mostly outdoor
things.
Corey Placito (10:16):
I'm a big fan of cats and guitar.
These are some of the thingsthat I love and if I think about
those things, they don't reallygenerate much anxiety on most
levels.
So I think the idea is I wantto try to take mathematics and
bring it into that light, bringit into that frame.
If we can make mathematics intosomething fun that you're in
love with, then maybe some ofthat anxiety can be alleviated.
(10:39):
I also deliberately set up asyllabus to curtail some of this
anxiety and I'm lucky that I'mstill in a course where I can
set my own syllabus.
Some of our lower level courseshave departmental syllabi,
which I think are done very well, but in my course I will give
three midterms these are justregular class exams and then I
(11:00):
have a cumulative final at theend of the semester and of the
three midterms I actuallydropped the lowest exam score
and the final exam is worth asmuch as a midterm is, so it's
not worth more.
It's not a higher stakes examthan just one of these regular
in-class exams and also worth asmuch as an exam be it a final
or a midterm is the homework,and I give students unlimited
(11:23):
attempts on the homework, andit's really just for them to
work out the kinks, make surethat they understand the
material and are ready for theselarger assessments.
And then I have other thingstoo, contributing to that final
grade from the quizzes.
And we do coding projects withPython in our department,
getting students to do some youknow, some coding.
We have some first-timestudents that have never coded
(11:45):
before and are a bit sort ofanxious about that.
Understandably so.
But in our 300-level courseslike linear algebra and
differential equations, we getstudents starting with coding
and using Python and everyoneleaves feeling, I think, much
better about it.
It gives them a new skill setand gives them something that,
hey, they could even sort of putit on a resume if they'd like
to, right.
And we have some computerscience majors that have coded
(12:07):
but never using Python.
We have people that I thinkthought they would survive
through life with never havingto do it.
And then I have to break it tothem.
Well, we're going to do it, butit's also going to be
manageable and fun.
We're not going to try to keepit as something difficult.
We're going to try to lead youinto this very gently and with
all of those things in mysyllabus, though it really sets
(12:28):
up the stage for a student to bein direct control of their
success dropping one of thosemidterms.
So let's say somebody doespoorly on a first exam and first
of all, I don't like to look atexam scores or assessments in
general as being good or bad.
As far as the grades that arereceived, I look at them as
contributing versusnon-contributing.
And let's say a student getslike a 50 or a 60 on an exam
(12:51):
Okay, so it probably won't windup on the refrigerator door or
something like that but itcontributes to a final grade and
contributes more than like a 20or a zero would towards that
final grade, and I really kindof want to look at it in that
light and also mention that wellin my syllabus.
I'll drop a low exam score.
So if we had a bad first exam,we want to identify the things
(13:13):
that went wrong, we want to becommunicative, we want to talk
to our instructor and our TAs,we want to make sure that we let
someone know that we'reproactive about our situation,
and we could end up losing thatexam score in a final average,
and it sort of presents its ownunique challenges at the end of
the semester because eventowards, let's say, the last
month, there's still a lot ofthe grade in the control of the
(13:35):
students.
So all the students that maybehaven't performed as well as
they would have hoped earlier inthe semester and they'll come
to me in a bit of a maybepanicked state, maybe there's a
bit of anxiety there, Iunderstand that.
I'm empathetic towards that.
But I can say to them you knowyou still have a lot of
assessments ahead and, eventhough it seems strange because
we're close to the end of thesemester, you know we still have
(13:57):
maybe another midterm and afinal exam and some remaining
homework assignments, maybe alast Python project that we're
still going to be graded on andyou could really change your
situation.
But now we want to identify whatthe issues are.
We want to talk and I alwaystell them like well, when you're
studying, you know, check inwith me, send me an email, let
(14:18):
me know what you like, let meknow what isn't going well.
We want to keep our strengthsas strengths and turn our
weaknesses into strengths aswell.
I think it's also important tobe approachable to students, be
empathetic, right.
Math is difficult for manystudents and I also want to make
sure that I'm passionate aboutwhat I'm doing in the classroom.
You know, if I, if I'm notfully enamored with mathematics,
(14:40):
how could I expect that to beinfectious, right?
Or I would expect that then tosort of take the place of it.
So I try to make sure thatstudents know I really enjoy the
material, and I think some ofthat does rub off a little bit.
I always tell my students youwant to be the change you want
to see in the world, that no oneis going to take that first
(15:00):
step for you.
In the classroom, we can takethat first step together, right.
Maggie Grady (15:04):
Are there any other teaching strategies that
you want to tell our listenersabout?
Corey Placito (15:09):
Oh, absolutely.
I am a big fan of exit slips.
I've always been a big fan ofthis strategy in the classroom
and, for those of you that aremaybe wondering, you know what
is an exit slip.
So let's say, for example, I'mdoing some problem sets with
students in lecture and I'm avery traditional lecturer.
I like to be up at theblackboard.
(15:30):
I don't do too much.
That isn't sort of classicalteaching.
But, with Exit Slips.
Let's say I have four examplesthat I'd like to, you know,
expose the students to.
I'd like us to go throughtogether.
I could do three of them andsave like a medium difficulty
level problem and give that tostudents to work on at the end
of class.
So we'll say like, with thelast five or 10 minutes of class
(15:52):
lecture time, instead of medoing this one lecture that I
removed from the middle of myexample set, I will put it up on
the board and I'll say allright, everybody, work on this.
If you're one of you know a lonewolf character like me, work on
it by yourself.
I get it.
If you want to work in smallgroups, you can no more than
three and they'll work in thesmall groups and there'll be
(16:14):
some communication happeningthere.
They'll bounce ideas off oneanother and they'll come to me
with their solutions.
And I got the red pen.
I always have the red pen andif I give them the red check
mark, then they're free to go.
They could leave or they couldhelp some other groups out, and
(16:35):
then if they come up and it'snot quite where we want it to be
, I can give them someencouraging remarks what I like
about their work, but I can alsotell them maybe a hint, some
suggestion as to where they wantto go back and readdress things
they could improve, and thenthey can go back and work on it
a bit more and try to do thatimprove, and then they can go
back and work on it a bit moreand try to do that.
Now, the reason why I like exitslips so much is it really helps
with consolidating material,right, and I tell my students
all the time, when you work onhomework matters a great deal
(17:00):
towards consolidating material,and, true of anything in life,
the idea is, I want to be anactive participant in this right
, so I think it's important notonly for students to be, you
know, taking lecture notes,obviously, but also trying to
work on problems on their own,and it is my job, right, to make
math look easy and like it'ssomething that is something we
(17:22):
can do, right, not impossibleright?
And I want to make sure, though, that they can recreate that
same experience, that samepleasurable experience, on their
own, and doing that right atthe end of a lecture is the best
time to build those neuralpathways and those strong
retrieval cues, which then, inturns, makes doing the homework
easier, studying is easier,success on exams is easier.
(17:46):
Exit slips, I think, are agreat way to borrow part of your
lecture time and reappropriateit in a bit more of a useful way
.
Maggie Grady (17:55):
All right.
So I hope that thisconversation engaged and
encouraged other people and ourlisteners to connect with their
students, reach their students,read their students, be open and
available to your students, andI really appreciate you sharing
your insights and yourtechniques to our audiences and
as well as myself.
Corey Placito (18:15):
I do also hope that everyone listening in
you're able to take awaysomething useful from these
comments that I have from my ownunique teaching experience.
I hope you're able to take awaysomething useful from the
things that I've said.
Maggie Grady (18:27):
All right, so thank you for joining us today
at the teaching table.
Today we discussed innovativeways in which teaching
approaches can help studentsuccess in mathematics with
Professor Corey Placito.
Be sure to connect with usonline at buffalo.
edu/catt that's c-a-t-t or emailus at ubcatt@ buffalo.
edu.
Welcome to the Teaching Table, a monthly
podcast where we'll engage ininsightful conversations about
the dynamic world of teaching,learning and technology within
higher education.
Brought to you by theUniversity at Buffalo Office of
Curriculum Assessment andTeaching Transformation, and
made possible by the generoussupport of the Genteels'
Excellence in Teaching Fund,this podcast aims to shed light
(00:24):
on the pathways to educationalexcellence.
I'm your host, Maggie Grady, alearning designer in CATT.
Today, I'm delighted to bejoined by Dr Corey Placito, a
lecturer for the math department, for a discussion on innovative
teaching, student success andwhat role the instructor plays
in that.
Welcome, Corey, and thank youfor joining me.
Corey Placito (00:44):
Thank you so much for inviting me here to the
podcast.
It's great to see you again,Maggie.
I'm really looking forward tosharing whatever bits of
experience I can have that youcan glean insight from from my
teaching, but wonderful to behere.
Thank you for having me.
Maggie Grady (00:58):
Sure, so I appreciate you taking the time
to chat with us.
When I first thought about whoI wanted to interview and who I
wanted as a guest on theTeaching Table podcast, I wanted
engaging teachers that had aunique approach to reach their
students, and I naturallythought of you.
You and I first met back in2018 in the effective teaching
classes offered by ourdepartment.
(01:19):
How do you feel you haveevolved since you have first
begun teaching?
Corey Placito (01:23):
How have I changed?
Or how has my teaching changed?
I mean, I guess I'd say I'mnothing if not a teacher, so
either is okay, but you know I'dsay I'm a lot more cognizant of
my teaching overall and a lotmore sensitive to different
learning styles of my students.
I feel, in general, that I do abetter job of reaching more of
my students through the lectureand the classroom experience and
(01:44):
I definitely think goingthrough those courses is very
helpful and, you know, at leastopening my eyes to what's
available to me as an instructor, different paths that I can
take to try to reach my studentsand, you know, giving me the
tools necessary to further that.
Being at UB for so long, andI've been teaching here since
2012 which now would be abouthalf of my life, there's been a
(02:09):
lot of changes and I think youdon't really notice that
evolution in the smaller momentsof it, like semester to
semester, and maybe it couldjust be a student asking a
different question that I'venever been asked before and
thinking of you know a responsefor that, trying to get into
their mindset and trying to helpout.
But I think if you were to takea snapshot of me when I first
(02:30):
started teaching at UB andcompare it to a snapshot now,
there's a lot of changes in myteaching.
I think I've gotten much betterat it better at approaching the
material and making it a lotmore comfortable for students.
Right?
I always want to try to keep astudent- minded approach to my
teaching.
Maggie Grady (02:46):
How do you feel that you have changed to adjust
to the students needs, or how doyou adjust to the students
needs?
Corey Placito (02:53):
You know, I really try to be a lot more
student centric.
I try to be very compassionateto their position as a learner
and make sure that they knowthat they can always come to me
asking questions.
After teaching for so manysemesters I really start to see
what the you know.
Maybe it's better to say whatthe incorrect approaches are
(03:17):
right.
If I do something that doesn'tseem to resonate with students,
I'll be one of the first orsecond to realize that.
I think maybe students pick upon that first through their own
experience, their own uniquelens and from a lot of trial and
error.
I think I've really gotten to aplace where now I know the best
ways to approach material, whatorder to sort of go in as well.
I think that's very important,especially in a mathematics
(03:39):
classroom the order that wepresent different, not just
different topics but within aspecific topic.
The order that we presentdifferent, not just different
topics but within a specifictopic, different foundations
that are laid down for thatspecific mathematical device.
I think that's important.
So I'd say, just going throughthe usual life of a professor,
you know, semester to semesterthings really get fine-tuned
throughout you start to realizewhat's important with students,
(04:02):
what resonates well with themand what doesn't, and that
really helps to, I think, fine-ttune that experience into
something that's most beneficialfor them.
Maggie Grady (04:09):
Yeah, I agree with you on that.
So I also ran, and this is I'mnot going to embarrass you, but
on UB Reddit you had such goodreviews I don't know if you've
seen them or not, but you hadthings such as legit the coolest
professor at UB.
People went on to say wish theyhad you as every teacher for
(04:31):
every class.
Other posts said the bestprofessor ever.
So what do you attribute thatto?
Corey Placito (04:39):
That's very kind.
I try not to go on to thosesites too much because any
negative comment will certainlymake me feel not great about it,
but it's nice to hear from youthat there's a lot of positive
things there.
You know, I think that whatmakes me such an effective
educator if I am one at all, tobegin with is I think I'm a very
(05:01):
good public speaker and I thinkthat I do try to be
entertaining, which sometimesdoes not work out in the
classroom, but I think thoseskill sets really lend to
helping out in the classroom.
I think that the subject that Iteach is almost secondary to
that.
I think that I could be a greatlecturer standalone and I think
(05:21):
that really comes from anability to, you know, strong
public speaking skills.
You know trying to connect withstudents, yeah, and a little
bit of entertainment here andthere.
Maggie Grady (05:32):
So the reason that I ask you all of that is
because math for me is, and was,extremely challenging.
So what do you think some ofthe most effective strategies
that you've used to making mathmore approachable to your
students or understandable foryour students?
Corey Placito (05:50):
You know, I think adopting multimodal learning
and incorporating that into theclassroom has been very
important for students,especially in the classes that
I'm teaching differentialequations.
We have Python projects, alittle bit of coding there.
We get really visual with theanswers to viewing responses on
slope fields, phase portraits,things like that.
So there's definitely a verystrong visual aspect to the
(06:11):
course.
I would say that, you know,nothing can really take the
place of or circumvent qualitylecture and I am lucky to be
teaching the course that I'mteaching differential equations,
because students are veryfocused, they want to learn the
material for their major rightand I really do believe, first
and foremost, that greatstudents make good professors
(06:32):
and not the other way around.
So I do think that I am reapingthe benefit of that.
I think that one of the bestways that I could approach
material for students is byhelping with strong scaffolding.
I think that's really at thepith and marrow of everything
that I do as an educator.
I'm always trying to connectwith students and to find the
best way to approach thematerial and, like mentioned, I
(06:53):
do try to be entertaining so thecourse doesn't drag on so much.
It can be a long semester, butI think sometimes the students
could really do without some ofthe anecdotes.
Maggie Grady (07:02):
Yeah, yeah.
No, I think that makes youhuman and they connect with you,
so I think that's kind of nice.
So, moving into innovativeteaching approaches, ai, things
of that nature, so in what waysdo you, if at all, incorporate
real world applications, maybeinnovative teaching approaches
or technologies?
(07:22):
Do you use anything like thatin your courses?
Corey Placito (07:26):
Well.
So the course that I'm teachingdifferential equations is
largely application-based.
So most of what I teach, if notall of what I'm teaching, has
applications at the helm of it.
We do a lot of work with likemass spring dashpot systems,
practical resonance resonancedisaster phase portraits for
predator prey systems asnonlinear systems, which I think
really makes the Jacobian comealive in the mathematics.
(07:48):
So I think that's beautiful.
I think that the you know thereal world applications are
really important for students toget a strong idea as to you
know why we care about what mathhas to offer.
I think sometimes theabstractions can be difficult
for some students.
Arithmetic-based operations,algebra and why are we adding
(08:16):
two numbers together?
Why are we solving for x?
What is the point of this?
And you know, I think it'simportant to have those
applications so that studentscan see why it's so important.
There is a bit of a trade-offto it because I think in some
lower-level courses applicationsmight also mean word problems.
Some students don't love wordproblems, but I think the
applications are very important.
(08:37):
But I do want to mention theother side of that coin.
In my classroom we also discusspure mathematics as well.
I think that's very important.
I mean, I have my unique lensas a mathematician.
I think it's important thatthey have that side of it as
well, because they're in theirmajors.
They have the partnerdisciplines too, that really
focus on the applications ofwhat we're doing, and I think
(08:58):
it's important for the studentsto also be somewhat subjected to
, you know, the abstractions ofpure mathematics, and some
students wind up even enjoyingit.
A few of them will stop me andsay you know, hey, I'm using the
material that we learned inthis class that I'm taking right
, and then they'll go throughand they'll talk about it, and
it just makes me feel great thatthey retain the information.
(09:19):
They're using it in their major, in a different course.
They take good notes and theyhave those to fall back on, and
that, I think, is the mostimportant part, is what happens
after they leave the classroom.
Maggie Grady (09:30):
Yeah.
Corey Placito (09:31):
You know we get our shared time together, which
is wonderful, but I want to makesure that it's doing what it
should be doing for them, andyou know, hearing about those
stories from previous studentsis ah, that's my favorite part.
Maggie Grady (09:42):
Yeah, I'm sure it is.
How do you build the confidencein your students?
Do you experience your studentshaving a lot of math anxiety
and how do you kind of, you know, curb that?
Corey Placito (09:57):
Well, I think this sort of falls under better
consolidation of material.
I think it's just you want tobuild confidence and rapport
with the subject.
So, for example, you want tothink of your favorite thing to
do.
What are some of your favoritethings to do, Maggie?
Maggie Grady (10:08):
I like to hike, I like to swim mostly outdoor
things.
Corey Placito (10:16):
I'm a big fan of cats and guitar.
These are some of the thingsthat I love and if I think about
those things, they don't reallygenerate much anxiety on most
levels.
So I think the idea is I wantto try to take mathematics and
bring it into that light, bringit into that frame.
If we can make mathematics intosomething fun that you're in
love with, then maybe some ofthat anxiety can be alleviated.
(10:39):
I also deliberately set up asyllabus to curtail some of this
anxiety and I'm lucky that I'mstill in a course where I can
set my own syllabus.
Some of our lower level courseshave departmental syllabi,
which I think are done very well, but in my course I will give
three midterms these are justregular class exams and then I
(11:00):
have a cumulative final at theend of the semester and of the
three midterms I actuallydropped the lowest exam score
and the final exam is worth asmuch as a midterm is, so it's
not worth more.
It's not a higher stakes examthan just one of these regular
in-class exams and also worth asmuch as an exam be it a final
or a midterm is the homework,and I give students unlimited
(11:23):
attempts on the homework, andit's really just for them to
work out the kinks, make surethat they understand the
material and are ready for theselarger assessments.
And then I have other thingstoo, contributing to that final
grade from the quizzes.
And we do coding projects withPython in our department,
getting students to do some youknow, some coding.
We have some first-timestudents that have never coded
(11:45):
before and are a bit sort ofanxious about that.
Understandably so.
But in our 300-level courseslike linear algebra and
differential equations, we getstudents starting with coding
and using Python and everyoneleaves feeling, I think, much
better about it.
It gives them a new skill setand gives them something that,
hey, they could even sort of putit on a resume if they'd like
to, right.
And we have some computerscience majors that have coded
(12:07):
but never using Python.
We have people that I thinkthought they would survive
through life with never havingto do it.
And then I have to break it tothem.
Well, we're going to do it, butit's also going to be
manageable and fun.
We're not going to try to keepit as something difficult.
We're going to try to lead youinto this very gently and with
all of those things in mysyllabus, though it really sets
(12:28):
up the stage for a student to bein direct control of their
success dropping one of thosemidterms.
So let's say somebody doespoorly on a first exam and first
of all, I don't like to look atexam scores or assessments in
general as being good or bad.
As far as the grades that arereceived, I look at them as
contributing versusnon-contributing.
And let's say a student getslike a 50 or a 60 on an exam
(12:51):
Okay, so it probably won't windup on the refrigerator door or
something like that but itcontributes to a final grade and
contributes more than like a 20or a zero would towards that
final grade, and I really kindof want to look at it in that
light and also mention that wellin my syllabus.
I'll drop a low exam score.
So if we had a bad first exam,we want to identify the things
(13:13):
that went wrong, we want to becommunicative, we want to talk
to our instructor and our TAs,we want to make sure that we let
someone know that we'reproactive about our situation,
and we could end up losing thatexam score in a final average,
and it sort of presents its ownunique challenges at the end of
the semester because eventowards, let's say, the last
month, there's still a lot ofthe grade in the control of the
(13:35):
students.
So all the students that maybehaven't performed as well as
they would have hoped earlier inthe semester and they'll come
to me in a bit of a maybepanicked state, maybe there's a
bit of anxiety there, Iunderstand that.
I'm empathetic towards that.
But I can say to them you knowyou still have a lot of
assessments ahead and, eventhough it seems strange because
we're close to the end of thesemester, you know we still have
(13:57):
maybe another midterm and afinal exam and some remaining
homework assignments, maybe alast Python project that we're
still going to be graded on andyou could really change your
situation.
But now we want to identify whatthe issues are.
We want to talk and I alwaystell them like well, when you're
studying, you know, check inwith me, send me an email, let
(14:18):
me know what you like, let meknow what isn't going well.
We want to keep our strengthsas strengths and turn our
weaknesses into strengths aswell.
I think it's also important tobe approachable to students, be
empathetic, right.
Math is difficult for manystudents and I also want to make
sure that I'm passionate aboutwhat I'm doing in the classroom.
You know, if I, if I'm notfully enamored with mathematics,
(14:40):
how could I expect that to beinfectious, right?
Or I would expect that then tosort of take the place of it.
So I try to make sure thatstudents know I really enjoy the
material, and I think some ofthat does rub off a little bit.
I always tell my students youwant to be the change you want
to see in the world, that no oneis going to take that first
(15:00):
step for you.
In the classroom, we can takethat first step together, right.
Maggie Grady (15:04):
Are there any other teaching strategies that
you want to tell our listenersabout?
Corey Placito (15:09):
Oh, absolutely.
I am a big fan of exit slips.
I've always been a big fan ofthis strategy in the classroom
and, for those of you that aremaybe wondering, you know what
is an exit slip.
So let's say, for example, I'mdoing some problem sets with
students in lecture and I'm avery traditional lecturer.
I like to be up at theblackboard.
(15:30):
I don't do too much.
That isn't sort of classicalteaching.
But, with Exit Slips.
Let's say I have four examplesthat I'd like to, you know,
expose the students to.
I'd like us to go throughtogether.
I could do three of them andsave like a medium difficulty
level problem and give that tostudents to work on at the end
of class.
So we'll say like, with thelast five or 10 minutes of class
(15:52):
lecture time, instead of medoing this one lecture that I
removed from the middle of myexample set, I will put it up on
the board and I'll say allright, everybody, work on this.
If you're one of you know a lonewolf character like me, work on
it by yourself.
I get it.
If you want to work in smallgroups, you can no more than
three and they'll work in thesmall groups and there'll be
(16:14):
some communication happeningthere.
They'll bounce ideas off oneanother and they'll come to me
with their solutions.
And I got the red pen.
I always have the red pen andif I give them the red check
mark, then they're free to go.
They could leave or they couldhelp some other groups out, and
(16:35):
then if they come up and it'snot quite where we want it to be
, I can give them someencouraging remarks what I like
about their work, but I can alsotell them maybe a hint, some
suggestion as to where they wantto go back and readdress things
they could improve, and thenthey can go back and work on it
a bit more and try to do thatimprove, and then they can go
back and work on it a bit moreand try to do that.
Now, the reason why I like exitslips so much is it really helps
with consolidating material,right, and I tell my students
all the time, when you work onhomework matters a great deal
(17:00):
towards consolidating material,and, true of anything in life,
the idea is, I want to be anactive participant in this right
, so I think it's important notonly for students to be, you
know, taking lecture notes,obviously, but also trying to
work on problems on their own,and it is my job, right, to make
math look easy and like it'ssomething that is something we
(17:22):
can do, right, not impossibleright?
And I want to make sure, though, that they can recreate that
same experience, that samepleasurable experience, on their
own, and doing that right atthe end of a lecture is the best
time to build those neuralpathways and those strong
retrieval cues, which then, inturns, makes doing the homework
easier, studying is easier,success on exams is easier.
(17:46):
Exit slips, I think, are agreat way to borrow part of your
lecture time and reappropriateit in a bit more of a useful way
.
Maggie Grady (17:55):
All right.
So I hope that thisconversation engaged and
encouraged other people and ourlisteners to connect with their
students, reach their students,read their students, be open and
available to your students, andI really appreciate you sharing
your insights and yourtechniques to our audiences and
as well as myself.
Corey Placito (18:15):
I do also hope that everyone listening in
you're able to take awaysomething useful from these
comments that I have from my ownunique teaching experience.
I hope you're able to take awaysomething useful from the
things that I've said.
Maggie Grady (18:27):
All right, so thank you for joining us today
at the teaching table.
Today we discussed innovativeways in which teaching
approaches can help studentsuccess in mathematics with
Professor Corey Placito.
Be sure to connect with usonline at buffalo.
edu/catt that's c-a-t-t or emailus at ubcatt@ buffalo.
edu.
Popular Podcasts
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com