Education Summit Draws Kodiak Mathematician

Jennifer Canfield/KMXT

Christy Lyle grew up hating math. Now the Kodiak Island Borough School District Math Coordinator will be traveling to Seoul, South Korea this summer to participate in the 12th Annual International Congress on Mathematics Education. The gathering brings together some of the world’s most innovative researchers, teachers and mathematicians to discuss trends in mathematics education research.

Lyle says Kodiak math teachers are actively looking for newer, more effective ways to teach math and she hopes to share some of their techniques at the gathering.

— (Math 1 :30 "One of the reasons… work that we’re doing here.")

Lyle was a science teacher before being asked to teach a few remedial math classes. She wasn’t excited about the new responsibility at first.

— (Math 2 :33 "And as I started… that we never knew before.")

Lyle believes that math education is now far more important than it was for previous generations. Gone are the days when students could say, with some accuracy, that they’ll never use algebra, calculus or geometry in real life. Health care, computers, engineering and architecture are just a few of the industries that the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects will see the largest wage and employment growth through 2020. Those industries require workers who have a solid understanding of math.

— (Math 3 :20 "We have a whole bunch of kids… on math assessments.")

A lot of people grow up believing that they are naturally good in some academic subjects and have no hope to succeed in others. Lyle says part of the progress being made in math education is to do away with that idea.

— (Math 4 :19 "What we’ve learned… and we can teach them.")

Lyle will travel to the 12th Annual International Congress on Mathematics Education in Seoul, South Korea in July.

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