Raymond Cooper

CUNY MATHEMATICS
CONFERENCE
Hunter College

Professor
Gardella

Extra Credit Paper CUNY 2014 Mathematics Conference: Effective Instructional Strategies
Teaching Community Approach, Moderator: G. Michael Guy, Queensborough Community College
The first presenters were William J. Baker and Olen Dias from Hostos Community College. They
commented on the Teaching Research Model. They remarked that math is treated too much like a
spectator sport. They then asked what might facilitate students becoming more motivated and engaged.
One crucial consideration they mentioned was that students must be comfortable. They also suggested
that teachers use more visuals, including visual art.
Other presenters emphasized the value of humor. They also stressed the importance of math
being presented in a meaningful context. Specifically, it is key that math be related to real world
problems which are directly applicable to a students life. In addition, there must be moment of
discovery for the student, a realization. All the speakers agreed that math must be taught so that all
students can benefit. Teachers must try to reach the weakest students.
The speakers asserted that students will do better in all subjects if they do well in math. This
reminded me of Ken Wilbers idea that cross training may seem to take too much time, but it actually
takes less time. Wilber argues that if you work on three types of intelligence, there will be a general
improvement. It seems to me that math already involves more than one type of intelligence. In any case,
my own experience has been that studying mathematics has improved my musical ability. Similarly,
playing music has increased my capacity to do math. Research shows that music integrates brain
functions more than any other activity.
Reem Jaafar, a Professor At LaGuardia Community College remarked The day I stop teaching, is
the day I stop learning. He discussed feeling the burden passed on from an underperforming Math
education system at the High School level but also that he did not want to give up. It was mentioned
that out of all the courses taught at the City University of New York, Calculus One has the highest failure

rate of any course. Several presenters attributed this to students having weak foundations in Algebra
and Geometry. They also spoke about the large amount of CUNY students taking remedial Math.
There was a discussion of our dual roles as educators and researchers. As teachers, we are to
support, motivate, challenge and encourage our students. As researchers, we are to step back, observe
and analyze. A teaching research community can offer support to teachers as they strive to fulfill the
responsibility of these dual roles. Instructors can discuss different theories of education and mind. They
can also share stories of their successes and failures and use these experiences as a way to reflect upon
these theories, their veracity and alternative approaches to implementation.