Domain A

Dimension1. Knowledge of Learners

For me the big question has always been how do I teach a new mathematical concept to students.
I would ask myself, "can I teach a new mathematical concept regardless of the absence of
previous knowledge?" This is a question I have often asked myself and still continue to do so
today. Interestingly, I have come to the conclusion that some type of prior knowledge is needed
in order to grasp a new concept related to something a student has never seen before. I came to
this conclusion because I noted that students learn a new concept much faster if they have certain
prior knowledge. Hence, this brought me to the second question, "what previous knowledge do
you need to have before you can understand a new concept?" While thinking about this, it
occurred to me that there might be various levels of prior knowledge not simply just one big
expanse of prior knowledge. I therefore started to consider the idea of the multiple levels of prior
knowledge wondering how many levels there were and perhaps more importantly how many
levels of prior knowledge would one have to visit before one could grasp a new concept. I must
admit that these questions presented a major challenge in my thinking while at the same time
providing with a sense of direction in terms of what I needed to do to prepare students to grasp a
new concept. Here then, the question was to consider what does a student need to know or would
be helpful to know if he/she is to learn something new. I decided that to address this issue, I
would start with an epistemological approach to how math is learned. The basic understanding I
came to in relation to Math is that it is rooted in the physical experience of the rational world.
Therefore, such basic understanding as that one plus one equals two took on new meaning as I
began the process of scaffolding the steps towards mathematical understanding. As I began to
look at what the physical world provided in terms of physical truths, I started to consider the

organizational nature devised by man in order to structure these truths into a rational system by
which man would utilize this system to create particular results. This is the way I came to
understand the concept of Math. It was an epiphany for me as I began to get a clearer idea about
what needed to be done before challenging students with new concepts. During my student
teaching, I decided to experiment with different approaches to identify the types or forms prior
knowledge needed to take on in order to facilitate the acquisition of a new concept. I used this
approach in class work and hand outs I gave to students. One of these handouts included an exit
slip where I asked students to describe and subsequently draw a real-life situation that uses
parallel lines. My goal with this was that students have the widest range of prior knowledge with
which to draw from. It also aimed to make students visualize what real-life situations contained
concepts of parallel lines and transversals. From the response I got from the students, I noted that
many visualized buildings, roads, lines, windows, and bridges as they related the concept to prior
knowledge they had.

Dimension2. Knowledge of Subject Matter

My knowledge of the subject matter began as most people do with the basic introduction of
mathematical concepts early on in school beginning with elementary school all the way to high
school. During these early years, I would not say that I stood out in any particular way from
other students in my class. I can say however, that I successfully completed each grade level
with their increasing levels of difficulty in this particular as it related to math. In college (Korea),
I was interested and pursued a major in physics never realizing at the time the close relationship
between math and physics. For me, although math was a component of physics, I didn't separate
the math from the physics to realize that in fact I had an interest in math outside of physics.

Indeed, it wasn't until I took a linear algebra class at Hunter that I realized how much of an
affinity I had with math. In fact, I was so enraptured by this class not only because of the beauty
of math but also because I realized that I was able to assimilate the concepts presented in the
class. After this initial "love affair" with math, I decided I would pursue a career in math and
what better way than by teaching others the marvels of math. As I journeyed through a number of
math courses, I began to excel in math skills and eventually became named into the PI MU
Epsilon, the National Math Honor Society. It was a great honor to achieve this high recognition
after having obtained a math GPA of 3.9 at Hunter. During this time, I took Method 2 Fieldwork
class where I taught Algebra 2 and Trigonometry to high schools students. Additionally, I tutored
Pre-Calculus, College Algebra, and Statistics for CUNY. These experiences allowed me to learn
what today's high school and college students were required to know about math. It also
provided me with the training and opportunity to develop effective teaching approaches to help
students struggling with math. I learned firsthand the level of frustration many students had
dealing with mathematical concepts they could not grasp. However, I also learned that I could
help many of these students grasp the concepts by drawing upon their prior knowledge and
walking them through the scaffolding needed to master a new concept. This was so rewarding for
me and based on the feedback of the students I was working with, I was really making a
difference in their understanding of math. Finally, I had found my calling. I was to pursue a
teaching career in math helping high school students achieve their potentials of mastering the
skills of math. Moreover, today, as I look towards the future, I see a promising career in what has
now become my passion.