Recognizing Excellence in Graduate Teaching
Meet Apoorva Mate, winner of the 2024 Johnny W. Lott Graduate Instructor Award
Apoorva writes that her teaching is “driven by the belief that mathematics is a skill to be refined rather than an innate talent.” One of her main goals is to help students who might not see themselves as “math people” develop positive attitudes toward math in addition to the advanced mathematical skills they need.
She does this by asking students to act as collaborators when solving math problems in class and creating assignments that help them assess their own learning, identifying focus areas for practice and further study. She also uses real world scenarios in her teaching, exploring linear regression, for example, by having students discuss how the number of hours the influencer spends creating content in a week might correlate with an increase in their followers.
In her teaching evaluations, students emphasize that Apoorva is committed to their success as mathematicians and good at adapting the pace and level of her lectures to the students in the room. Her nominator, Dr. Kayla Harville, noted that she is skilled at creating the “kind of comfortable classroom environment [that] is important to foster but difficult to achieve.” She went on to share that Apoorva often uses novel methods to help struggling students, such as employing “body doubling” to help students avoid distraction while completing challenging homework tasks.
The judges were impressed by Apoorva’s “student-centered teaching philosophy” and the inclusivity of her instruction. They also noted her commitment to enhancing teaching within her discipline more broadly. “I was excited to see that she’s organizing a workshop on accessible and inclusive math classrooms at an upcoming national conference,” said Dr. Derek Bruff, a fellow mathematician and Visiting Associate Director at CETL. “This points to her dedication to teaching and to her teaching community.”
“Winning the Graduate Instructor Award is a profound honor that validates my dedication to math education and inspires me to continue striving for excellence in my teaching practice,” said Apoorva. “I am deeply grateful for the incredible support provided by the CETL and the math department, which has made this achievement possible.”
You can read about other award winners on the CETL blog.