Teaching Statement - CRISTIAN RIOS

Throughout my academic studies and professional career, I have been teaching mathematics for fourteen years at various levels. Because of my vast teaching experience, I have learned the essential elements that are necessary to be a successful teacher. First of all, I have discovered that my passion for mathematics must be transparent in my teaching in order to inspire my students. Secondly, I believe in a respectful learning environment: respecting the students by preparing my lessons thoroughly, by being available to my students for help, and by establishing clear expectations of conduct in my classroom. Thirdly, I believe in critical feedback from my students, colleagues and supervisors to help me improve my teaching skills. Finally, I believe in my professional development to rekindle the passion I have for the study of mathematics. I believe in working hard to become a better academic, thus I become a better teacher.

I started teaching mathematics while still working on my undergraduate degree. This was a very enriching opportunity since I was able to relate to the difficulties students experience in learning this discipline. At the beginning of the academic year 2000--2001, at the University of Minnesota, I was a Resource Teaching Assistant. In this leadership position, I worked on improving and developing the teaching skills of newcomers to the graduate school. By coordinating teaching sessions and sharing my experiences, I informed the candidates of their duties and responsibilities as future teaching assistants.

In my last year as a Teaching Assistant at the graduate school, I acted as the Assignments and Computer Consultant for the course The Mathematics of Industrial Problems. I was in charge of guiding students in the realization and debugging of their computer assignments, which involved the implementation of numerical methods to approximate solutions of mathematical models with industrial applications. This course is one of the first of its kind; it set a precedent to establish a doctoral degree in Industrial Mathematics at the University of Minnesota, and it has inspired many similar courses and programs around North America.

At the UNL in Argentina, at the University of Minnesota, at McMaster University and more recently at Trinity College, I have taught a broad spectrum of undergraduate mathematics, aimed at degrees in mathematics, engineering, chemistry, computer science, liberal arts, biology and economics among others. Teaching various student audiences taught me the necessity to adapt my teaching style and expectations to the varying needs of my students.

My teaching experience has been largely enriched this past year at Trinity College, a Liberal Arts College. The small student-teacher ratio allowed me to conduct a more personalized instruction and to develop new courses. I include copies of positive feedback I have already received from some of my students. At Trinity I have taught basic Statistics, Calculus and Algebra courses as well as more advance ones like Real Analysis, Complex Analysis, Mathematics of Finance and a special topics course in Applied Fourier Analysis. I have also had the opportunity to direct and supervise a student in an undergraduate research project. All these experiences have added to the maturity and confidence that are essential to carry out productive classes.

As I have indicated, I have taken an interest in Professional Development teaching opportunities. At Trinity I have participated in Orientation to Teaching workshops at the beginning of my teaching year. In August 2005, I attended Mathfest in New Mexico to participate in a mini-course on the Mathematics of Finance to assist me in developing the curriculum for this program at Trinity. Finally, in November I will be attending a conference of “Reacting to the Past”, which is a new pedagogy that has been embraced by a consortium of colleges, and has attracted educators from every discipline to teach first year seminar courses in a student-directed environment.

Teaching is a very important part of my professional life. I look forward to continue my growth as an academic and an educator.

Cristian Rios

Department of Mathematics Trinity College 300 Summit Street Hartford, CT, 06106, USA

(860) 297-4243 (office) (860) 956-8979 (h) (860) 987-6239 (fax) crios@math.trincoll.edu http://www.math.trincoll.edu~ crios