Mathematical Foundations for Teaching Secondary School Math

Andy Engelward is the Assistant Dean of Academic Programs at the Harvard Extension School. He first began teaching mathematics while completing his PhD in number theory at Harvard. Since that time he has taught students from ages 7 to 70 in a wide range of settings including a prep school (Noble and Greenough), an afterschool program (The Math Circle at Harvard), and summer programs (Upward Bound and the Harvard Summer School), in addition to teaching in the Harvard math department and at the Extension School. He credits his enjoyment of teaching to his parents who helped him experience the thrill of mathematical discovery when he was very young. He has made it his goal to help as many others as possible to enjoy that same sense of mathematical creativity, leading to his current work with teachers in the Math for Teaching program. Andy's own mathematical interests involve algebraic groups, elliptic curves, and number theory. He is the recipient of the Extension School's Petra T. Shattuck prize for teaching and has received certificates of distinction from Harvard's Bok Center for Teaching every semester he taught undergraduates.