Activities, Writings, and Videos by Debra K. Borkovitz
Three years ago I wrote a post about my transition to Boston University when I joined the Math/Stats department after Wheelock College, where I’d taught for 25 years, merged with BU. That post focused especially on the assessment system in … Read More
I have never rehearsed the first five minutes of class as many times as I did last summer. Wheelock College, where I’d taught for twenty-five years, had just merged with Boston University. At Wheelock I led the math program and … Read More
Last year I wanted to incorporate more quizzes and individual feedback into my college mathematics courses. My classes are inquiry-based, where students often work in groups solving challenging problems in a variety of ways. Most of my students were prospective … Read More
Last week I read an excerpt in the Boston Globe from the blog post, “How to Improve Boston Public Schools,” by Nicholas C. Donohue, president of the Nellie Mae Educational foundation. The post focused on four items – increasing expectations, … Read More
Fifth in a Series. First one is here. When I was at MIT, it seemed like hardly anyone there was interested in teaching. My advisor told me that mathematicians viewed teaching as akin to golf: an unrelated side-interest. The teaching … Read More
When someone shares a syllabus with me, it’s usually to show me the course content, not the attendance policy, but these days I also think about the message the syllabus sends to students with chronic illnesses or medical crises. That … Read More