The Teaching Seminar provides an opportunity for professional development focused on the best practices of teaching. It is our hope that all attendees will learn from the expertise of their colleagues and be in a state of continuous improvement in the classroom as an instructor. These talks will be especially helpful to those new to teaching, providing support and useful ideas for their classrooms. The Teaching Seminar meets once or twice a month at 4:00-5:00PM on Thursdays. If you have questions about the Teaching Seminar or are interested in giving a talk, please contact Tyler Brock.
The Department of Mathematics & Statistics takes pride in the overall quality of instruction and the amount of scholarly teaching that occurs. The department is engaged in a number of student-centered initiatives, which you can read about here.
Note that talks are listed in reverse chronological order.
Date: Thursday, October 15, 2026
Speakers: Matt Fahy and Iris Robedeaux (NAU)
Abstract: Utilizing resources from the Karen Larson and Gary Bicker Elevating Excellence fund, the LMC hired a continuing Statistics Master’s student, Iris Robedeaux, to work alongside the LMC Director, Matt Fahy, to analyze data about LMC and “LMC-adjacent” students and courses during the summer of 2026. In this session, we’ll discuss findings and seek input for further analysis.
Date: Thursday, October 1, 2026
Speakers: Dana Ernst (NAU)
Abstract: This past summer, I spent two weeks teaching at Epsilon Camp, an intensive program for exceptionally gifted young mathematicians and their families. I taught an introduction to proof course to 10-year-olds and a combinatorics course to 11-year-olds. In this talk, I will share some of my experiences teaching mathematics to students at this level, including what surprised me, what I found difficult, and what I learned. Teaching at Epsilon Camp was one of the most challenging experiences of my career, but also one of the most rewarding and transformative.
Date: Thursday, September 17, 2026
Speakers: Dr. April Strom (Chandler-Gilbert Community College)
Abstract: This session is designed to showcase Building Thinking Classrooms (a.k.a. BTC) instructional practices and ways to increase student engagement and success in mathematics. We will experience BTC from both the student and teacher perspectives through the simulation of thinking tasks with the goal being to leverage student thinking to guide all aspects of instruction.