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“UNESCO reports that the quality of teachers, including their specialization and pedagogical skills, significantly influences the participation and learning of girls in STEM.” –Ruth Rodríguez
What can we do to get more young people to venture into or continue their studies in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)? From preschool to higher education, the teacher’s figure looms large as a source of inspiration and motivational teachings that boost students to become better day by day.
Mathematics is considered by many to be a difficult subject. The students even inherit this perception from their families. In this webinar, Dr. Ruth Rodríguez shares some tips for improving the teaching of mathematics. She also covers the efforts that have been made to promote gender equality in STEM study programs and national and international initiatives that seek to boost the number of girls and women in these fields of knowledge.
What does it mean to be an inspiring professor or teacher? An inspirational teacher is he or she who listens to the students, teams with them, communicates effectively, teaches them to think, proposes real-life challenges, and, through experimentation and design, makes every lesson a learning opportunity. Below are some tips that can improve teaching practices.
“An inspiring teacher is the one who listens to students, teams with them, communicates effectively, teaches them to think, proposes real-life challenges, bets on experimentation, and designs each lesson to offer them a learning opportunity.”
On how to improve the teaching of mathematics
Mathematical modeling is a teaching strategy employed for more than 40 years. With these models, we can show students the connection between a formal and rigorous mathematical study and what the student would encounter in his or her professional life as an engineer, programmer, or scientist, explains Professor Ruth Rodríguez in the webinar. She also shares five tips for improving the teaching of mathematics:
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Model real phenomena as the center of the course.
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Show different mathematical representations like graphs, numerical data, and analyses.
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Conduct experiments in the classroom.
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Use simulators in class.
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Link with other areas of knowledge for the design and implementation of the models.
The teacher’s role is fundamental in the learning process, the development of student competencies, and the motivation that the teacher sows in the students to keep preparing themselves. In this regard, UNESCO mentions that the quality of teachers, their specializations, and pedagogical skills can significantly influence the participation of girls and their motivation to learn in the STEM areas. In this session, Dr. Ruth shares the progress, challenges, and obstacles that confront girls, adolescents, and women when they begin their studies in STEM careers in Mexico and all Latin America.
These are some associations and initiatives that promote the careers of girls and women in science: LACCEI (The Latin American and Caribbean Consortium of Engineering Institutions), MIC (Women’s Initiative in Engineering and Sciences at TEC), HeForShe Tecnológico de Monterrey, and EQUALItec Gender Equality Committee of Tecnológico de Monterrey. View the webinar to learn about these initiatives more in-depth.
Ruth Rodríguez Gallegos (ruthrdz@tec.mx) is a professor and researcher in Educational Mathematics. Her interest lies in studying the use of Mathematics in the areas of Engineering using the modeling and computational simulations. She currently coordinates the Latin American Research Group on Engineering Training in Educational Mathematics.
If your native language is not Spanish, you can enable instant subtitle translations on YouTube included in this article. To enable this option, select the Subtitles option on YouTube (Spanish subtitles will appear), then select Settings ->Subtitles -> Automatically translate, and choose the language you prefer.
Translation by Daniel Wetta.
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This article from Observatory of the Institute for the Future of Education may be shared under the terms of the license CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 
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