New Semester Underway
August 29th, 2006 by SplineGuy
I am so glad to be back in the classroom. Every summer, I spend a significant portion of my time dedicated to research. As a result, each year at this time, I almost always convince myself to start looking for a full time position in a research institution, perhaps even leave the world of academia, altogether. But, then I step in to the classroom and I remember just how much of a passion I have for education. Particularly, I have a passion education at a faith-based institution like Wayland.
Here at Wayland, I have the opportunity to blend my faith with my professional life by praying for my students, using mathematical principles as illustrations for spiritual principles and helping students to see how we learn more about our Creator by studying the “language” of His creation.
I recount to my students each semester how I’ve been to a few professional development activities in which I was instructed on how to integrate faith and learning. In most cases, they present a spectrum of all classes sorted based on the ease of integration of faith into the classroom. On one end, they usually list things like Religion courses, Philosophy courses or even English and History courses that can incorporate more discussion. Way down at the other end, all the way at the end is Mathematics. I can understand their claim in one sense that the derivative of a function, or the complexity class of an algorithm, or simply the result of adding 2+2 is unchanged based on one’s faith or lack thereof. However, we are people studying a subject and as long as their are social interactions in the learning process, faith based learning, in my opinion, has its place in the mathematics classroom.
Sound Christian doctine does not allow you to separate your life into categories in which your faith is excluded. Even if you are in a state institution or a public school, you may be prevented from explicit references to your faith, but you cannot be prevented from living a life of character and integrity modeled after Jesus Christ. And for me, mathematics is excited and interesting because it is a revelation of God’s order, structure, and faithfulness to his creation.
Coming soon: Goals for teaching this semester
