Newswise — Dominic Klyve, Lara Pudwell, and Matthew Inglis share three characteristics: They have held doctorates for less than eight years, they are passionate about undergraduate mathematics education, and they received awards at the Mathematical Association of America’s annual summer meeting, held this year in Portland, Oregon.
Klyve (Central Washington University) and Pudwell (Valparaiso University) won the Henry L. Alder Award for Distinguished Teaching by a Beginning College or University Mathematics Faculty Member. The award honors beginning college or university faculty whose teaching has been extraordinarily successful and whose effectiveness in teaching undergraduate mathematics is shown to have influence beyond their own classrooms.
Both Klyve and Pudwell supplement their exemplary classroom teaching with involvement in undergraduate research and community outreach. Klyve pioneered a one-week “speed research” summer program, has coauthored a number of papers with his undergraduate students, and teaches Upward Bound courses for underrepresented teenagers. Participants in Pudwell’s REU programs frequently publish their work in peer-reviewed journals and she mentors for Discoveries Unlimited, which encourages middle school girls to explore STEM fields.
Matthew Inglis (Loughborough University) comes at math differently. He has a Ph.D. in mathematics education and has, in just the past nine years, published 33 papers in peer-reviewed journals. Inglis has advanced understanding of mathematical argumentation by integrating theories and methodologies from mathematics education, psychology, and philosophy. In three papers for the Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, for example, he used a method from cognitive psychology—eye-tracking—to explore how mathematics majors and mathematicians read proofs.
For his significant record of published research in undergraduate mathematics education, Inglis was awarded the 2014 Annie and John Selden Prize for Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education. Responding to his receipt of the prize, the UK resident expressed gratitude for his compatriots across the pond: “I would like to offer my appreciation to the whole US-based RUME [research in undergraduate mathematics education] community for running such stimulating and friendly conferences, and for being so welcoming to outsiders like myself.” More information about the Alder Award and Selden Prize winners can be found in the prize booklet.
About MAAThe Mathematical Association of America is the largest professional society that focuses on mathematics accessible at the undergraduate level. Formed in 1915, the association members include university, college, and high school teachers; graduate and undergraduate students; pure and applied mathematicians; computer scientists; statisticians; and many others in academia, government, business, and industry who are interested in the mathematical sciences.