Teaching

Teaching is one of my favorite parts of being a mathematician: working with students and seeing the spark in their eyes when information clicks into understanding is so rewarding. My classroom uses a mixture of interactive lectures and inquiry-based group work, aiming to increase the confidence of all of my students in the mathematical knowledge while also combating inequities in pre-college education. (See my teaching statement for details.)

I recently designed an interdisciplinary Topics in Cryptography class for Boston College (see below), which could be adapted to any level of students. I am happy to share my course materials, so send me an email if you are interesting in teaching a similar course!

Students working at the board during inquiry-based classes in Complex Variables (Math 4460)

As Instructor of Record:

• Topics in Algebra and Number Theory: Quantum Groups (Math 8845).

  • • This is a graduate level topics course on Quantum Groups, a (misleadingly-named) class of algebras with deep ties to representation theory, geometry, combinatorics, and number theory. This course is primarily lecture-based, but run in a seminar style where instructor lectures are interspersed with student lectures. Our main source is Majid's ``A Quantum Groups Primer." 

• Topics in Cryptography (Math 4480), Boston College, Spring 2023 (returning Spring 2024).

  • • This is an upper division math course I designed for Boston College as a capstone applications course for senior math majors and minors, incorporating coursework from throughout their education into the exciting topic of cryptography. The course covers both modern public-key cryptography and historical number-theoretic ciphers from a pure mathematics perspective, with an emphasis on ciphers developed by mathematicians from underrepresented groups. A significant component of the course are inquiry-based cryptanalysis ``Friday Spy Days," which teach the students to find the weaknesses of the codes we have studied while allowing them to connect with the lived experience of cryptographers racing to break codes. In addition to weekly homework, there are four assessments: two midterm exams, a midterm survey paper on a historical topic, and a final ``unessay" project, encouraging students to think outside the box while demonstrating the knowledge they gained from the course. 

    • Here are a few examples of final unessay projects! There were many more that a webpage cannot do justice, including an escape room design, board games, and a paint by number! Projects where the math content is more hidden included a math supplement essay.

      • • • A magazine article on how cryptography appears in Call of Duty: Zombies.

          • A short story about a young women's coded correspondence with her grandmother.

          • A children's mystery novella, "Squirrelock Holmes and the ElGamal Cryptosystem."

          • An encoded painting about the experiences of women in cryptology.

          • A report on the use of lava lamps to generate "random" keys for cryptosystems.

          • A treasure hunt set on Boston College campus using Elliptic Curve Cryptography.

• Complex Variables (Math 4460), Boston College, Fall 2023.

  • • This is an upper division math course primarily aimed at math majors and minors. I had 14 students, and we met three times a week for class in addition to office hours. While the content of the course is a standard undergraduate complex analysis course, I am using multiple different teaching methods during class-time, including interactive lectures, guided group-work, and inquiry-based learning. I am also writing homeworks and exams, and directing an undergraduate grader. One of my students' favorite parts of the class was that they got to work at the boards on inquiry days!

• Short Calculus (Math 1142), College of Liberal Arts, University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Fall 2019. Note: I was also Co-Course Coordinator for this class.

  • • I served as primary instructor to 240 students and co-course coordinator for the three lecture sections of the course: I lectured three times a week, wrote quizzes and exams, and directed three graduate student TAs, as well as coordinating with two other lecturers.

    • Short Calculus is an abbreviated semester-long version of the calculus 1 and 2 sequence, designed specifically for business majors. Many students take it thinking that it will be easier than the standard Calculus 1 and are displeased when it is just as rigorous and actually covers more concepts, so teaching evaluations are usually low for this class. I am very proud that my teaching evaluations for this course were stellar despite this and that most of my students came out of the class way more excited about math than they were before.

As Teaching Assistant (University of Minnesota Twin Cities):

Led semi-weekly discussion sections, held regular office hours, collaborated with lecturer and other TAs to create and grade quizzes and assessments.

• Calculus 1 (Math 1271), College of Liberal Arts - Spring 2017.

• Calculus 2 (Math 1372), College of Science and Engineering - Fall 2017.

• Multivariable Calculus (Math 2374), College of Science and Engineering - Spring 2018.

• Honors Calculus 2 (Math 1572H), College of Liberal Arts - Spring 2019.

• Sequences, Series, and Foundations: Writing Intensive (Math 3283W), College of Liberal Arts - Spring 2020 and Spring 2022.

• Short Calculus (Math 1142), College of Liberal Arts - Fall 2021.

As Undergraduate Teaching Assistant, Brown University

Held weekly office hours and graded weekly student assignments.

• Honors Linear Algebra (Math 0540) - Fall 2015.

• Cryptography (Math 1580) - Fall 2014.