Center for Teaching and Learning

Faculty Interview
Brian G. Cann
Mathematics

Brian G. Cann, a native of southern England, holds a degree in math and statistics. His master's thesis was entitled "Other People's Knowledge: The Politics of Math Anxiety" and he has co-authored a math textbook. He has begun a doctorate program at a distance with the University of Exeter, United Kingdom. Teaching math since 1980, he has been with UMUC-European Division since 1986. He is a full-time instructor in Germany, where he lives with his wife and daughter.

I hope that my faith in student's ability comes across. I genuinely expect to finish the term with the same number of students as I started with, and with all of them passing. Of course, that's not always possible but it does seem a realistic and worthwhile goal.

I try to link mathematics to the students' real lives. In part, I try to foster understanding through metaphor. I try to explore a number of different ways of getting a point across: the fact that a student doesn't understand is generally a matter that they didn't understand the context of the first explanation rather than the fact they can't understand at all. I try to give students space to construct knowledge.

Lectures are punctuated with collaborative group problem solving, and there is always time during an example on the board for a student to voice their confusion or concerns and to work it through to a satisfactory conclusion. I willingly back off from a lecture and let students negotiate their meaning for what is written on the board. If you signal your encouragement for students to participate and if there is no risk involved, people really do not mind stating that they didn't get something and entering into a search for the meaning. Often they do this entirely by themselves – i.e. posing the questions, stating their difficulties and realizing that they have just answered their own question. I often hear students say that they have understood something for the first time and their expression of frustration that another instructor didn't present it that simply. The reality is not necessarily that other's explanations are more complicated. Rather, together we have created a supportive classroom environment where students have confidence in their ability to learn: they expect to understand rather than being on the defensive from possible failure and are therefore much more receptive to ideas.

F2f courses offer immediate feedback from students. The content of most of the f2f courses I'm assigned to teach could be described as school math. The majority of our students come to these courses having had a less than positive experience of math in the past. I seem to be very successful at finding ways of helping adults who have a past history of failure finally see how math works. Seeing students transformed, from expecting failure to being excited about understanding a concept that had eluded them, is incredibly satisfying. This is particularly so when the student recognizes that they are not succeeding because of me, but rather because of something they have discovered within themselves.

I still view online courses as being at the frontier of educational expansion. There is a lawlessness still about them that comes from the lack of any really satisfying unified learning theories applied there. I think we are still finding ways to really take advantage of the possibilities of online delivery in math education. The intellectual journey is at once both a challenge and intensely satisfying.

Only do it if you really enjoy it. Check things out and keep an open mind. Find an instructor from your classes who you can relate to and start finding ways to talk about math. You'll need to communicate about math and use a shared a language before you can make it your own.

For those who have to take one math class and are terrified, I'd recommend that you remember to take a deep breath and say "Math is my friend." ;-) On a more serious note, take a deep breath and explore all the possibilities about the class before taking it—who the instructor is, what is required, and get advice from other students who have taken the class before. Above all, ask lots and lots of questions!