Andrei Volodin home page:teaching

Teaching Interests

I taught at the Department of Mathematics and Mechanics of Kazan State University (Russia) from 1991 to 1999. Since then I taught and I am teaching at the Department of Mathematics and Statistics at the University of Regina (Canada). During this time, I have had the opportunity to experience many aspects of teaching in Canadian and Russian Universities. These experiences have been both rewarding (since they help me to refine my teaching capabilities), and extremely pleasurable.

In Kazan State University I gave lectures on the following subjects: Calculus (all levels), Probability Theory (all levels), Mathematical Statistics (second level) and some Special Courses (for students of their last year of study, so the highest level). These Special Courses were about Financial Mathematics, Limit Theorems, Martingales and Probability Distributions in Banach Spaces and were created by myself. During the same years I taught laboratories and seminars parallel to these lectures. I was the supervisor for the study of one Candidate of Science student Svetlana Bronnikova at the Kazan State University.

In the University of Regina I have had full responsibility for teaching the following Stat and Math courses:

Math 101. Introduction to Finite Mathematics I (a variety of topics including: Approach to problem solving, sets, logic, numeration and mathematical systems and number theory) [taught Summer 2000, Summer 2001, Fall 2001 off-campus class in Swift Current, Spring 2002 for SIFC],

Math 103. Calculus 1 (first level) including functions, limits, applications of limits, derivatives, applications of derivatives, integration, applications of integration [taught Winter 2002 for SIFC],

Math 104. Calculus 1A including functions, limits, applications of limits, derivatives, applications of derivatives, trigonometric functions [taught in Fall 2001],

Math 105. Calculus 1B including curve sketching, integration, related rates, application of integration [taught in Winter 2002],

Math 127. Introduction to Finite Mathematics II (a variety of topics including: Probability, finance, linear programming, elementary linear algebra and counting techniques) [taught Winter 2000, Fall 2000, Winter 2003],

Stat 151. Mathematical Statistics I (including: Organizing data, describing bivariate data, probability, random variables, normal distribution, sampling distributions, inferences about means, comparing two treatments, analyzing count data, regression analysis) [taught Winter 2001],

Stat 251. Mathematical Statistics II (including: Discrete random variables and their probibility distributions, continuous random variables and their probability distributions, multivariate probability distributions, functions of random variables - transformations, moment generation functions, order statistics, sampling distributions and the central limit theorem [taught Spring 2001]),

Stat 351. Probability I (including: Probability and distributions, multivariate distributions, some special distributions, distributions of functions of random variables, limiting distributions [taught Fall 2002]),

Stat 451. Probability II (including: Classes of sets, measures, probability spaces, independence, integration in a probability space, sums of independent random variables, didtribituion functions and characteristic functions [taught Winter 2003]),

Stat 495. Reading class Financial Mathematical Models, discrete case (including: Statement of investing and hedging problem, pricing theory and hedging strategies of the European options, martingale representation [taught Fall 2002]),

Stat 851. Graduate Class Probability III (including: Classes of sets, measures, probability spaces, independence, integration in a probability space, sums of independent random variables, didtribituion functions and characteristic functions [taught Winter 2003]),

Math 881. Graduate Class Partial Differential Equations III (including: the Cauchy problem, the Fredholm alternative in Banach spaces, the potential equation, the Dirichlet problem, the heat equation, Green's functions, seperation of variables [taught Winter 2003]),

Math 895. Graduate Reading class Financial Mathematical Models, continuous case (including: Statement of investing and hedging problem, pricing theory and hedging strategies of the European options, martingale representation [taught Fall 2002]),

Lab insructor for Calculus 2 [taught Fall 1999], Calculus 1 [taught Fall 2001 for SIFC]. and Algebra [taught Fall 2001 for SIFC].

: I have also administered a tutorial class for various mathematical and statistical courses, and have privately tutored students and substituted in various other capacities throughout my career.; I believe that I am on my way to acquiring many of the necessary skills and qualities to one day be an exceptional instructor in mathematics and statistics. I take teaching very seriously and often devote extra time just to get it right. Following are some skills that I wish to highlight.

Elicit student participation:: I bring a fresh and often exciting attitude to my class, and create a comfortable atmosphere for my students. I encourage my students to participate in classroom discussions. However, one has to employ many different strategies in order to inspire the students to eagerly participate in a classroom discussion. One approach that has proven very successful for me is to get to know students on a first name basis. Once the barrier between the students and the instructor has been overcome, an interactive teaching style is very fruitful. This teaching environment was also welcomed by most of my students. Obviously, how interactive a lecture one plans depends on class size and course type, but I feel some interaction is essential for the learning of mathematics and statistics.

Extra curricular work:
I include weekly assignments or quizzes and (up to 3) midterm exams to help the students grasp the material. I also prepare complete solutions to all of the assignments and exams so that the students can fully understand the concepts discussed

Incorporation of technology in classroom:
I am capable (assuming the necessary technology exists) of teaching a course that utilizes mathematical software such as: Maple, SPSS, Statgraphics, Matlab, or Matematica.
Extra curricular work:: I include weekly assignments or quizzes and (up to 3) midterm exams to help the students grasp the material. I also prepare complete solutions to all of the assignments and exams so that the students can fully understand the concepts discussed

Incorporation of technology in classroom:
I am capable (assuming the necessary technology exists) of teaching a course that utilizes mathematical software such as: Maple, SPSS, Statgraphics, Matlab, or Matematica.
Incorporation of technology in classroom:: I am capable (assuming the necessary technology exists) of teaching a course that utilizes mathematical software such as: Maple, SPSS, Statgraphics, Matlab, or Matematica.

: I take pride in making sure the students feel comfortable approaching me in and outside the classroom. I offer numerous office hours and review sessions near exam time. On occasion I would discuss questions with students over the phone and via e-mail.; It is also worth mentioning that I am currently active in both pure mathematics and statistical research, so I am capable of teaching any course in statistics or mathematics and welcome such opportunity.
: In conclusion I want to reiterate the seriousness and importance I hold for teaching mathematics, and I look forward to new experiences in this respect.
Some material for Stat 2225 lab.
Book by Dalgaard Chapter1
Book by Maindonald and Braun Chapter 1
Book by Michael Trosset