Noyce Scholar Profile
Caroline Robb
Undergraduate major or graduate field of study: Mathematics and Modern History
Subject area(s) and grade level teaching focus: Mathematics, grades 9-12
Category of scholarship/fellowship:
Master Teaching Fellow
Name of Noyce institution:
University of Texas at Arlington
Current academic or teaching status:
First Year Master's Student
School and school district:
Teaching Assistant, University of Texas at Arlington
Background:
I completed my Master’s of Arts at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland in Modern History and Mathematics. In high school, I graduated Cum Laude from the Hockaday School with awards in Creative Writing and History. While working on my Master’s of Education at the University of Texas at Arlington, I have had the privilege of presenting at a conference in San Antonio on establishing rigorous literacy goals in elementary science education. I have also been working as a teaching assistant and a research assistant at the university.
Why do you want to teach:
I would like to teach calculus and statistics at the high school level. Later, I would also enjoy teaching a block of Modern European history.
Describe a memorable teaching experience:
While participating in a tutoring program for freshman math students at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland, I worked with a student from Pakistan whose background in mathematics was very poor. His father had insisted that he be a math major, and the student was floundering in a basic skills course. He had absolutely no conception of what equations meant and represented. I worked with him to gain a physical understanding of abstract concepts like exponential growth and trigonometric properties. Unfortunately, because his background was so lacking in math application, he really struggled to understand even the most basic concept once math moved beyond ‘plug-and-chug’ methodology. Because of my help, he did pass the course, though I fear because his high school background had failed him so miserably, he will be hard pressed to catch up in a university where independent thinking and study are valued above cooperative learning.
What does the Noyce program mean to you:
The Noyce program has introduced me to an amazing collection of professors and teachers who are opening up many new avenues for my career. The scholarship program has allowed me to continue my education without taking on any debt. Because of the Noyce program, I have been given research and teaching opportunities that would not have materialized otherwise. I am incredibly grateful to the program and have been enjoying my time thus far as a Noyce scholar.
