Math education expert visits VGCC
The Male Mentoring Program and the Academic Skills Center at Vance-Granville Community College brought a renowned educator to campus recently to speak to math students and instructors.
Dr. Lee Stiff, former president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, presented "Math Matters: Seeing Math for What It Is" on March 10 on VGCC’s Main Campus. Stiff was introduced by VGCC Academic Skills Center assistant coordinator Tim MacNeil. “Dr. Stiff was my professor at N.C. State University,” MacNeil said. “He’s the best math teacher you will ever see.”
A Hertford County native, Stiff completed a bachelor’s degree in mathematics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his Ph.D. in mathematics education at North Carolina State University. In 1978, he joined the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where he received the Reginald V. Blackmon Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1980. In 1983, he returned to NCSU, and in 1985, he completed study in computer science from the Institute for Retraining in Computer Science at Clarkson University in New York. In 1992, he was presented the W. W. Rankin Memorial Award for Excellence in Mathematics Education by the North Carolina Council of Teachers of Mathematics.
In his VGCC presentation, Stiff used humor and real-world examples to bring math to life. Math, he argued, “is access to success,” because it is used in every job and every facet of life. Stiff recommends that instructors “focus on the big picture, and explain to the students the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ of math.” Fractions, for example, trip many students up because they are not taught to understand what those fractions really represent. “Build on what students already know, even if they don’t realize that they know it,” Stiff said.
Supported by a grant from the N.C. Community College System, the VGCC Male Mentoring program involves an active, intensive, and engaging process of academic coaching and case management to help male students succeed. For more information on the mentoring program, contact Anthony Pope at popea@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3395, or Greg Nash at nashg@vgcc.edu or (252) 738-3305.
Above: Professor Lee Stiff speaks at VGCC. (VGCC photo)
