About

Mathematics education is home to a great deal of innovation and thoughtful experimentation, happening in every category of higher educational institution. A variety of events have made it clear that the variety of work being done in this arena was not being adequately represented. Outside the discipline, mathematics was often regarded as an educational backwater. Educational innovations in mathematics departments were often not communicated.

Most sizable mathematics departments have several weekly seminars focusing on research areas of interest to faculty. Why not a mathematics education seminar? Most mathematics departments at this point do not have a critical mass of faculty who identify with teaching the way they identify with their mathematical specialty. Inspiration came from the example of the “Electronic Computational Homotopy Theory” seminar created by Dan Isaksen: Try an online seminar format.

Here is a listing of talks from 2017-2024 [PDF].

Haynes Miller has been Professor of Mathematics at MIT since 1986. His research is in algebraic topology, and he has directed some thirty PhD theses in the subject. He has served as editor for eleven disciplinary journals, including as Managing Editor of the Bulletin of the American Mathematical Association. In 2005 he was named a MacVicar Faculty Fellow, the highest teaching honor at MIT. He created the MIT Mathlets — a collection of computer-based mathematical manipulatives, now seamlessly integrated into MITx mathematics courses — and the ongoing Online Seminar on University Mathematics Education. He is a core faculty supporter of the MIT-Haiti Initiative, a project promoting active learning and use in schools of Haitian Kreyòl.

Tara Holm has been on the faculty at Cornell University since 2005. An expert in symplectic geometry, she has supervised four doctoral students and mentored many post docs and young researchers. She led the first Cornell Active Learning Initiative grant, transforming several courses to systematically use more engaged teaching techniques in math classrooms. She has been awarded both the 2017 Cook Award for mentoring and the 2019 Sze/Hernandez Teaching Prize at Cornell. Holm has chaired the AMS Committee on Education (2012—2016), serves on the Board of Governors of Transforming Post-Secondary Education in Mathematics, and is President of Pro Mathematica Arte, the non-profit corporation that connects students to mathematics study abroad programs in Budapest, Hungary.

Brendan Kelly serves as the Director of Introductory Math at Harvard College, dedicating his efforts to designing enriching mathematical experiences that empower students to reach their intellectual and professional goals. Brendan has authored two open-source workbooks that emphasize active learning in introductory math courses. His commitment to educational excellence has been recognized with the prestigious Levenson Teaching Prize, an award celebrating outstanding teaching at Harvard College. He is working on a number of projects that look to improve learning outcomes for students and modernize the math curriculum by focusing on mathematical modeling.