Mary Fowler: Overcoming math fears through small challenges

Professor of Mathematics, 2010 and 2021 Alden Award Winner

In the world of education, the space between ignorance and knowledge can be a daunting and uncomfortable place. However, for Mary Fowler, professor of mathematics, that boundary is not a barrier, but a gateway to growth and learning. Fowler has made it her mission to guide students through the boundary, helping them overcome their math fears and discover the fun of learning.

“I think it’s important for students to be comfortable at the boundary between what they know and what they don’t know and not to fear the struggle of learning something new,” Fowler said. To help students bridge that gap, Fowler breaks down complex concepts into small, flexible challenges..

“I try to develop a trusting relationship with students, many of whom arrive with a fear of mathematics,” she said. “Teaching success, for me, looks like helping them realize that I will only ask them to do what I am willing to teach them. By breaking down learning into smaller challenges, I try to create a supportive and anxiety-free environment where students can build their math muscles and find joy in their small successes.”

Fowler takes an inclusive approach to teaching, which, she says, was influenced by her involvement in racial and social equity issues and through her role as the faculty fellow for equity at the Center for Teaching and Learning at Worcester State.

Long before that, however, she found her initial inspiration through her mother, who taught bilingual and English-as-a-second-language classes in the New York City elementary school system.

“She would come home and tell me stories about how hard she would work to communicate with all these diverse students,” she said. “She would tell me how she had to use a lot of nonverbal stuff and how she would dig really deep inside herself to find ways to connect with the students to help them learn. And she always explained how understanding their cultural differences could be helpful in the classroom. So like most faculty, I haven’t taken any education courses, but it was my mother who taught me how to teach.”