Saint Mary’s was proudly represented at the 2024 Minnesota Council of Teachers of Mathematics Spring Conference held in Duluth, Minnesota on April 7-9. The theme of the conference was “Seeing Our Mathematical Future.” Through the sponsorship of the ISTEP-Noyce Scholarship program, Assistant Professor Susan Baloun and Noyce Scholar Evelyn Sanchez, served as presenters for the session entitled, “You Probably Need More Probability,” which provided exploration into engaging probability scenarios to utilize in Statistics and Probability courses at the secondary and post-secondary levels. Classroom ready problems that incorporate The Law of Total Probability, Bayesian statistical techniques and connections to matrix operations were all provided to the participants. Throughout the three day conference, undergraduate Mathematics Education student and Noyce Scholar Evelyn Sanchez was also able to network with education professionals from around the Midwest. The keynote address by Dr. Pamela Seda provided inspiration and research-based best practices for utilizing culturally responsive teaching practices in the mathematics classroom.
The ISTEP-Noyce project at Saint Mary’s University is designed to increase the number of secondary (5-12) STEM teachers from diverse backgrounds committed to teaching in high-need schools in southeastern Minnesota through financial support, training, and mentoring. Current Noyce Scholars receive scholarship support, enriched experiential learning opportunities and mentoring beyond graduation.
