Originally published in TEACH Magazine, July/August 2015 Issue
By Tara Davis
My Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) journey started in 2012 at a workshop hosted by the Mathematical Association of America. I received training in teaching IBL, specifically in a “Problem Solving for Math Teaching” class setting.
I was skeptical about IBL, having made it through a PhD program being taught almost exclusively with the traditional lecture method. But after graduate school, when I began teaching university full time in 2011, my colleagues challenged me to make my lessons more active. These encouragements, as well as my own budding curiosity, were what led me to participate in the workshop.
Tara Davis is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Hawai’i Pacific University. She studied geometric group theory at Vanderbilt University but her interests now include mathematics education, especially active teaching and inquiry-based learning.
