Embracing Math with Dr. Love

Dr. Mark Love returned to Parker to connect algebra to algorithms as a former civil engineer and founder of Engineers Teaching Algebra.

Dr. Love spent two days with 9th grade students in Algebra II and Advanced Algebra II, connecting his early career as a safety engineer working on safety and efficiency for traffic lights at intersections with the students' current experience studying multivariable algebraic equations.

Building from samples of simple two- and four-lane intersections to examples with eight or more, Dr. Love demonstrated the power of variables in computing complex equations efficiently. He showed that safe intersections are designed using algebraic reasoning to determine the cycle time and order of green lights. He then challenged students to do the same using the approaches he had demonstrated and collaborated with them to share their solutions on the whiteboards.

In addition to calculations, Dr. Love talked about ways that math shows up in a wide range of professions. He extolled the importance of including arts in the conventional STEM acronym (STEAM) and explained that algorithms underpin the social media landscape that many immerse themselves in, pointing out that one’s behaviors online are the variables that generate what they see as they scroll into perpetuity.

Parker thanks Dr. Love for sharing his expertise and advice with students to help them learn math for meaning and see the wonder of numbers in the world around them.

Click here for photos of Dr. Love’s visit to Parker.