What I do

I spend part of my time teaching creative problem solving in mathematics and computer science to online students. Using collaborative tools from Google, I offer individualized instruction.

Mathematics and computer programming are good subjects for teaching problem solving because they force a student to be creative within precise constraints. Creativity involves putting ideas together in new ways. Small children can do that. The trick is to make the pieces fit together in a way that works. Once a student has learned to do that in a mathematics related field, the skill transfers to less precise fields.

Compared with a freshman or sophomore course at an exceptional college, a semester with me will

My courses (actually more like directed studies) last fourteen weeks and consist of two 55 minute contacts per week. I am available by email the rest of the week but students are expected to make a substantial effort on their own. In this way they learn self-reliance.