I believe teaching is one of the noblest
profession one can
choose and am proud to have participated throughout my career
The poem What
Teachers Make says so much about why I feel this way, and my
current
volunteer teaching as a Math
Olympiad coach for 4th and 5th grade students expresses my
continued
commitment.
In many ways, the poem The
Owl
summarizes my view toward learning and teaching. I see
knowledge as a
process of acquisition, not a product which can be transferred from one
person
to another. The student must be at the center of the learning
process. I believe that it is through the asking of questions and
the
seeking of answers that we internalize concepts and ideas, making them
available for problem solving in the face of complex and ambiguous
circumstances.
As an instructor, whether with adult or school age students, it is my
responsibility to create a learning environment that maximizes the
exchange of
ideas between all course participants, meaning the students, and the
instructor
as well. Hopefully, Socrates would be proud of me!
Teaching has always been an important part of my life, and I have had the unique opportunity to work with early childhood through executive education students. Between 1966 and 1969, I taught mathematics at the junior and senior high school levels. After completing my master in 1969, I was a math enrichment teacher as part of Project SEED, working in elementary school in Compton. While working on my doctorate, I taught in the Early Childhood Unit at UES (UCLA’s University Elementary School). After completing my doctorate I taught statistics and business calculus classes at various LA area community colleges, and Math for Teachers at California State University, Los Angeles.
From 1979 through 2006 I taught a range of courses at UCLA Anderson School, including statistics, business calculus, Managerial Computing/Information Systems, courses in operating systems, system configurations, database and system design, as well as special topic courses in office automation. My favorite was the Managerial Implications Of Emerging Information Technologies course. During 2003-2004 I returned to my roots and taught the undergraduate Introduction to Statistical Reasoning course (first time since I taught statistics since 1980) and undergraduates (last time was 1978). The classes being taught were paper-pencil based similar to what I had taught 20 years ago; my goal was to create a totally data driven computer-based class incorporating all that I’ve learned regarding the use of technology in education.. The stats department worked with me to offer a special class in their computer lab. The class was very successful and repeated the next year. I'm delighted that my approach helped pave the way for the new offerings of that department. My last UCLA course was Solving Real Business Problems Through Information Technology. This class focuses on what the non-IT manager needs to know to be an effective partner in the management of their companies’ IT oriented solutions. The class was very successful and a wonderful way to end my teaching career at UCLA.
During spring 2006, in thinking about retiring my
goal was
to move into something rather than away from something. I
explored
teaching options, including statistics at the community college level
or
general math with continuation high school students. At one point
I was
introduced to the principal at our local elementary school, and when
she heard
I was interested in doing mathematics, she immediately said "I don't
need
remedial math assistance, but we have a real need for enrichment
math.
Could you do that?" And, I was off and running. I spent the
summer exploring programs, and when we met in September, 2006, I shared
my
research, she selected the Mathematics
Olympiad for Elementary and Middle
School program as a structure to serve their needs. So, beginning Fall 2006, I am the volunteer
Math
Olympiad coach for 4th and 5th grade students at Linwood Howe
Elementary
School, walking distance form my home in Culver City, and I am
delighted to
report that it is going very well.
You can reach me via email at jason.frand@anderson.ucla.edu.
jason.frand@anderson.ucla.edu created September 15, 1996