Prof. Keely's Math Online Web ~ Clark College, Vancouver WA |
I was born in NY City to two Brits and immigrated to Canada as an infant (thus I hold duel-citizenship). My father was a Shakespearean actor and director. As a child we moved around a lot - all over the U.S., Canada, and England - living wherever he was working sometimes living in one place for only a couple of months. We lived on a boat for a couple of years and even traveled "on tour" by train playing just one night before moving on to the next city. I changed schools often and much of my learning was done independently. This unique learning experience led me to embrace the self-discipline necessary to learn in an unconventional environment such as an online forum. I tell you all this so you know that I do understand the self-motivation that is necessary to learn in an non-traditional environment such as the one in which you are about to embark.
I began university at
UC Santa Barbara as an engineering major at age 16. I
changed majors a few times, so I have strong educational backgrounds in computer
science, mechanical engineering, and developmental psychology. But I have
always loved math! So after a move north to
Oregon I earned Bachelors and Masters of Science Degrees
During the 80's my classes were fairly traditional, mostly lecture format with a few major exams. Upon completion of my Masters I was hired at Pierce College as just one of three faculty initiating a branch campus in Puyallup, Washington. The classes were very small, so I was able to start experimenting with interactive team projects. The 90's brought a major reform movement to math education on an international level - increased collaboration, inventive assessments, graphing calculators, and improved technology. This suited my personality and teaching style. I came to Clark College in the mid 90's and currently hold a tenured professorship. My on-campus classes at Clark revolve around daily collaborative team work following a brief lecture.
Since I have always enjoyed computers and programming, my next logical step was to start teaching online. In preparation for the transition I attended seminars about online teaching, read books and articles, and even took seven online classes so I could experience online learning from the student perspective. Developing my first course and writing the online lectures took about nine months. I began teaching some online sections in Fall 2000 and have been adding online classes to Clark's offerings ever since. I joined the University of Phoenix Online faculty in 2002 and teach a few classes there per year. I really enjoy the shared learning environment that occurs in online classes (and I hope you do too). I earned a C.O.I. (Certified Online Instructor) in 2005 and published a series of algebra e-books called GOLDen Mathematics in 2006 www.lulu.com/skeely. In designing my online courses I have tried to make them learner-centered environments and see my role mostly as facilitator. The success of my classes is dependant on each student's commitment to active participation. They are not independent study courses, rather a true collaboration of minds. This is in line with my teaching motto, "I am not here to teach at you, I am here to help you learn."
On the more personal side, I live atop a mountain (well, at 2200 feet) on five acres near Kalama in SW Washington state with my husband, young daughter (who we home-educate), and our border collie/golden retriever. I am an avid reader, politically active, and enjoy working math puzzles, developing websites (I run websites/listservs for several non-profit organizations), hiking, caving, and camping. I volunteer and have served on the board of directors for two non-profit organizations: WAMATYC, the Washington state affiliate of AMATYC, the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges, and DES Action, the international organization dedicated to persons exposed to diethylstilbestrol (DES). I also serve as the NW Coordinator for the Center of Disease Control's (CDC) DES Update Project and I am a co-leader for my daughter's Girl-Scout troop. Luckily, I’m an insomniac ;-)
Math is fun, exciting, aesthetically beautiful, and intriguingly vital. I hope through your math course you will improve your critical thinking skills and come to appreciate the usefulness of mathematics in your own career and life. My goal is to help you to apply the concepts to your own profession and make your job easier and more productive. I look forward to working with you all over the next few weeks. I can't wait to read your introductory biography on the discussion board and get to know you better. Let's have a great term learning together!
Originally written: 2000-04-15 |
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Copyright ©
2000
Sally J. Keely.
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mathematics from 
