Dr. Andrew Seeley (’87): Teaching Math ‘Beyond the Test’

Writing on the website of the Institute for Catholic Education (ICLE), Dr. Andrew Seeley (’87) decries the tendency to regard mathematics as little more than a tool of calculation. “In the ancient world, the mathematical disciplines were honored among the arts essential to the education of free men, and to the road that leads to wisdom,” writes Dr. Seeley, a tutor at the College and ICLE’s executive director. But most of today’s textbooks and standardized tests, he laments, leave “very little time for exploring why the rules for calculation work, and why anyone would want to be calculating in the first place.”

As a hopeful antidote to this all-too-common trend, Dr. Seeley tells the tales of classical educators who are thinking outside the teach-to-the-test box, presenting mathematics in ways that encourage wonder, instill virtue, and inspire thought. Among those educators are two other graduates of the College.

The first is Michael Van Hecke (’86), president of the ICLE, headmaster of St. Augustine Academy in Ventura, California, and president of the Catholic Schools Textbook Project. “To solve problems consistently, students have to learn to be orderly and to pay attention to detail,” Mr. Van Hecke tells Dr. Seeley. “They have to develop logical thought processes. When you proceed carefully, if you arrive at x=7, it’s undeniable.” Mr. Van Hecke thus encourages his middle-school math students to do their work in an orderly fashion that helps them to understand why they arrive at the correct answers to their problems. He even uses classroom banter as a means of conveying to students the importance of attention to detail in all facets of life.

The second alumnus to appear in Dr. Seeley’s article is John Stebbins (’84), who teaches AP Calculus at St. Augustine Academy. Through most of the year, Mr. Stebbins concedes, he strictly prepares students for the AP exam, which, although useful, can be constraining. What he “really looks forward to,” writes Dr. Seeley, is “May, when the course is done and he can focus on introducing his students to the marvels and beauties of higher level mathematics.” In exploring these wonders, Mr. Stebbins enables his students to appreciate how the boundless complexity of mathematics can yield theological insights — and teach humility. “The universe, even the mathematical one, is vastly greater than our best minds.”

Writing about these educators, Dr. Seeley concludes, reminds him of some of his own experiences at the College:

“In the lunch line at Thomas Aquinas College recently, I met a happy freshman. She had visited the College for a few days before deciding to apply. I asked her what has been the biggest surprise for her. She responded immediately, ‘I love math!’ That was a delightful answer, and brought back happy memories of many academic retreats, where humanities teachers have found that the session on Euclid was their favorite, completely contrary to their expectation. Her reason, however, was novel: ‘In high school math, I would always have to check the answers, because I never really knew whether I was right. With Euclid, I can see and understand the steps and know that I am right.’”

The full article is available via the ICLE website.