FYMSiC News
Announcements
Dear FYMSiC community,
First-Year Math and Stats in Canada (FYMSiC) one-day online conference: “Am I convinced? Research and Evidence in Mathematics Education”.
What counts as evidence in mathematics education when it comes to research on teaching and learning? How does one implement something meaningful in their teaching, or select a topic to engage with when conducting research? What gives us confidence that a particular teaching strategy that is claimed to be effective by the authors of a research paper would work in our classroom? How far apart are mathematics education research and teaching practice in university mathematics? These questions are important to think about, and the FYMSiC conference will be an opportunity to explore, discuss, and share thoughts and experiences.
The one-day online FYMSiC conference was held on Thursday, May 8th, 2025, starting at 11:00 EDT and ending at 17:00 EDT.
Session 1: Keynote and Q&A
Am I convinced the student understands this proof?
— Chris Sangwin (University of Edinburgh, Scotland)
Session 2: Keynote and Q&A
Connecting Research and Practice: Opportunities and Partnerships to Engage in the Study of Our Own Work
— Trena Wilkerson (Baylor University, USA)
Presentation Slides – Trena Wilkerson (Baylor)
Session 3: 10-minute talks (5 minutes transition)
First Session
Room 1
Is the Aim of Math Education Research Off?
Dan Wolczuk (University of Waterloo) [slides]
Room 2
The Power of “Research Shows”
Darja Barr (University of Manitoba) [slides]
Second Session
Room 1
Did they get it? – Assessing learning objectives in a non-specialist proof-based class
Denis Gorodkov (University of Toronto)
Room 2
Measuring Teaching Effectiveness by Student Learning Gains in a “Math Prof Teach-Off”
Diana Skrzydlo (University of Waterloo) [slides]
Third Session
Room 1
Confidence and Community — the importance of considering these as learning outcomes
Elaine Beltaos-Kerr (MacEwan University) [slides]
Room 2
Values, the foundation of mathematics education
Wes Maciejewski (Athabasca University)
Session 4: Keynote and Q&A
On bumpy roundtrips between teaching and research
— Rina Zazkis (Simon Fraser University, Canada)
Thank you for joining us! 🙂
Hello FYMSiC! 🙂
Get involved by this opportunity! See below.
Dear Colleagues,
We hope this email finds you well. We are excited to invite you to an upcoming conference focused on innovative approaches to teaching mathematics, which will take place on December 10, 2025, at the Fields Institute (online). This event aims to bring together educators, mathematicians, and researchers who are passionate about advancing the ways mathematics is taught and learned.
The conference will feature a series of insightful talks on topics such as integrating technology into math education and interdisciplinary teaching methods. Given your interest and expertise in the field, we believe your participation would be greatly valued. Additionally, we kindly ask if you could forward this invitation to any colleagues, fellow educators, or mathematicians who share a passion for enhancing math education. We aim to create a collaborative environment that encourages the exchange of ideas and best practices.
Please find attached the poster and information on registration/submitting abstracts.
http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/activities/25-26/ada-lovelace-conference
We would be honored to have you join us for this important discussion.
Thank you for your consideration, and we look forward to the possibility of welcoming you to the conference. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us directly at s.kirusheva@utoronto.ca.
Warm regards,
Snezhana Kirusheva, UTM
Marina Tvalavadze, UTM
Dan Wolczuk, WU
Participate, FYMSiC! 🙂
Hello FYMSiC! 🙂
Sharing an educational resource for Calculus thanks to Edward Doolittle (First Nations University of Canada). Check it out!
I am releasing my Beamer slides and LaTeX problem sets and solutions for MATH 110 Calculus I (based on the Stewart Calculus chapters 2, 3, 4 and 5.1) under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license. The material is available at https://github.com/edoolittle/calculus-1 .
The work is about 80% finished. I haven’t yet completed epsilon-delta, differentials, the end of chapter 4 (fundamental theorem of calculus), nor 5.1 (substitution). There are also numerous typos and errors throughout, and the diagrams require particular attention. (Many of the diagrams are done with Asymptote, but I’m hoping to switch to TiKZ, which I feel integrates better with Beamer.)
Colleagues are welcome to download the work I have completed for their own use and are especially welcomed to submit GitHub pull requests to improve the work if they wish.
Edward Doolittle
Associate Professor of Mathematics
First Nations University of Canada
Stay sunny and warm, FYMSiC! 🙂
Congratulations
Awards
Petra Menz (Senior Lecturer, Simon Fraser University) received the 2024 Faculty of Science Excellence in Teaching Award at Simon Fraser University.
Press release: https://www.sfu.ca/science/news/2024-news/2024TeachingAwards.html
Jerrod Smith (Associate Professor (Teaching), University of Calgary) received the 2024 Killam Undergraduate Mentorship Award at the University of Calgary.
Press release: https://www.ucalgary.ca/news/killam-research-and-teaching-awards-recognize-outstanding-mentorship-education
Vincent Bouchard (Professor, University of Alberta) received the 2025 Canadian Mathematical Society Excellence in Teaching Award.
Press release: https://cms.math.ca/news-item/dr-vincent-bouchard-to-receive-the-2025-excellence-in-teaching-award/
Annoucement
Amenda Chow is now an Associate Professor Teaching Stream in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Toronto.
Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication
to mathematics and statistics education!
For past FYMSiC News, please visit the Past News.
FYMSiC Online Teaching Meetups
Online Teaching Meetups are a great virtual space to have a conversation about math and stats teaching and learning with students and educators. Each meetup has a specific theme such as ‘How to teach ‘em math proofs in first-year and beyond?’ or ‘What is CEGEP?’ or ‘Transitioning to university: high school teachers’ experiences and views’, which may be accompanied by a couple of presentations – but for sure, a healthy, therapeutic and cathartic dialogue is always there about teaching and learning!
Upcoming meetup …
♦ Thursday, March 20th, 2025, at 5:00 p.m. EDT
Presentation Slides: Universal Design
Title: Universal design for large classes: Works?
Presenter: Nicholas Kevlahan (McMaster University)
Abstract:
Over the past 25 years the proportion of accommodated students has increased steadily from a few percent to as much as 20% (and growing!). Appropriately implementing accommodations is one the main sources of increased workload and stress for both instructors and students. The problem is compounded by the fact that class sizes have also been growing rapidly over the same period. The result is that today most instructors teach classes with dozens of students requiring a wide range of accommodations. In this talk I will present the results of implementing a suite of universal design principles in an 800-student second-year engineering math class, with the goal of automatically handling the vast majority of accommodations. I will also talk about my experiences advocating for universal design and pushing to make it accepted and widely available to all instructors.
Biography:
Nicholas Kevlahan did his BSc in physics at UBC and his PhD at the University of Cambridge before continuing to a Marie Curie Post-Doctoral Fellowship at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris. He has been a professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at McMaster University since 1998 and was President of the McMaster University Faculty Association in 2021-2022.
Most recent meetup …
♦ Tuesday, February 25th, 2025
Title: Canadians Teaching in the US
Presenters: Schinella D’Souza (University of Michigan) and Anton Mosunov (Cornell University)
Presentation Title & Abstract:
Schinella D’Souza (University of Michigan)
Teaching at U(M)
In this talk, I will describe my teaching experience in the introductory math sequence at the University of Michigan. These courses are large and coordinated, but with the unique quality of each instructor having a section of around 18-20 students. We teach our introductory courses using a flipped classroom and class time is primarily spent using active learning (such as group work and presentations at the board). I will discuss course structure, delivery, training, and support.
Anton Mosunov (Cornell University)
Teaching Foundational Mathematics Courses at the University of Waterloo and Cornell University
In this talk, I will reflect on my experiences teaching foundational mathematics courses at UW and Cornell. More precisely, I will talk about my experience teaching engineers in both universities, as well as about teaching Calculus I. I will compare classes, their sizes, structures of courses, supports available to students, etc.
Speakers’ Bios:
Schinella D’Souza is a sixth year Ph.D. student at the University of Michigan (UM). She has been an instructor of record for precalculus, differential calculus, and integral calculus and she has co-coordinated a calculus course. Schinella has co-organized a teaching workshop, a directed reading program, and was awarded the Outstanding Graduate Student Instructor Award by the UM graduate school. Prior to joining UM, Schinella did her undergraduate degree at the University of Toronto Scarborough.
Anton Mosunov earned his Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Calgary (2014) and his PhD in Pure Mathematics from the University of Waterloo (2019). Anton worked as a Lecturer at the University of Waterloo from 2019 to 2024. In 2024, he joined the Department of Mathematics at Cornell University as a Lecturer. His pedagogical interests include creation of digital assets and outreach.
Save the date …
♦ End of Summer 2025 . . . stay tuned
For past FYMSiC Online Teaching Meetups & Events and Resources mentioned and discussed, please visit the Meetups page.
Other Math & Stats Education Events
♦ May 8th, 2025 [Online]: 2025 FYMSiC One-day Online Conference: Am I convinced? Research and Evidence in Mathematics Education
♦ June 6th — June 9th, 2025 [In Person]: 2025 Canadian Mathematical Society Summer Meeting, Quebec City, Quebec
♦ 2025 Weekly Spring/Summer [Online]: Computer Programming for math learners (and educators!)
♦ June 13th — June 17th, 2025 [In Person]: 2025 Canadian Mathematics Education Study Group 49th Annual Meeting, Lethbridge, Alberta
♦ August 18th — 21st, 2025 [Online]: 2025 MACAS (Mathematics and its Connections to the Arts and Sciences), University of Moncton, Moncton Campus, New Brunswick
Fields Institute Mathematics Education Forum
Meeting Information: http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/centres/centre-mathematics-education
The Fields Institute Mathematics Education Forum promotes discussion of issues in mathematics education at all levels, with special emphasis on education in the Province of Ontario. The Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences serves as the host of the Forum, but does not determine the agenda or the conclusions of the Forum. It is the goal of the Forum to consider objectively new ideas and diverse views in mathematics education, to facilitate consensus and to promote the enhancement of mathematics education in Ontario and Canada.
The Forum’s mandate is to foster the development of new ideas, methodologies and materials with respect to possible changes that could improve education in mathematics, and to work for the implementation of such changes.
University of Waterloo Mathematics Teaching Seminar
The Mathematics Teaching Seminar at the University of Waterloo is a biweekly meeting featuring discussions on undergraduate mathematics teaching. Participants in the seminar include lecturers, research faculty, and graduate students from all four of Waterloo’s mathematics departments and the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, as well as faculty members and teaching enthusiasts from around the world. Those who would like to attend are encouraged to reach out to the organizers, Burcu Tuncer Karabina and Chelsea Uggenti.
FYMSiC Newsletter
Current issue …
Issue 16 – February 25th, 2025
Our seventeenth issue is coming out in July 2025. If you wish to contribute to our Newsletter, please visit the Newsletter page.
Please send your contributions in Microsoft Word or LaTex (source) formats to: newsletter@firstyearmath.ca
For the seventeenth newsletter issue, the contribution deadline is on Friday, July 11th, 2025, by 11:59 p.m. (PST).
FYMSiC Latest Share ….
From David Martin (Red Deer Polytechnic) fun game from an online teaching meetup (Jan 28th):
Read the instructions and have fun with NUMBERS.
See how high you can count in the game, FYMSiC! 🙂
FYMSiC Recent Publications
- Burazin, A., Carter, R., DeDieu, L., Jungić, V., & Lovrić, M. (2024). What is FYMSiC?, Ontario Mathematics Gazette, 62(2).
- Jungić, V. (2025). Contemporary Math Research for Artistic Undergrads, The Art of Mathematics Podcast.
- Jungić, V. (2024). On the Language Diversity in the Mathematical Community, Maple Transactions, 4(4).
- Jungić, V. (2024). No Strangers at This Party, Notices of the American Mathematical Society, 71(10).
- Jungić, V. (2024). Farewell Teaching, Notes of the Canadian Mathematical Society, 56(5).
- Jungić, V. (2024). A Poetic Visualization of the Process of Mathematical Discovery, Maple Transactions, 4(2).
- Listiarini, L., & Jungić, V. (2024). An Intersection of Haida Culture and Mathematical Exploration, U(t)-Mathazine, 9, 23.
Supported by …
