Dr. David byrd, professor of math
by halima monds
[email protected]
Dr. David Byrd has been an influential math teacher for student at Bainbridge State College for a number of years. He teaches the following courses: College Algebra, Pre- Calculus, Calculus I, II, and II, and Statistics
Dr. Byrd grew up around Dothan, Alabama. He went to Newton High School, which is located North of Dothan. He completed his undergraduate work at Troy University, and then he went to the University of South Carolina to obtain his Masters, and on to Auburn to receive his doctorate. He has a Bachelors degree in mathematics, Bachelors in science and math, Masters in math, and holds a Doctorate in mathematics education. He taught high-school level math for three years prior to joining academia.
When asked the question “if you were to start his teaching career over again, what would you do differently?” Dr. Byrd replied “I would have obtained my advanced degree sooner so that I could start teaching college courses sooner”.
For his dissertation, he did a regression analyses problem, which is a statistic problem. He became a teacher because he enjoyed the concept of explaining math to students, and working with students.
Bainbridge State College was not the only college where Dr. Byrd taught, he also taught at a 2-year college in Alabama for 30+ years and at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Dayton Beach, Florida.
Upon retiring from the Alabama University System, he was not fully ready to leave the classroom entirely because of his love of math; thus, he found Bainbridge State College. For Dr. Byrd, the easiest and nicest thing about being a professor is the fact that math comes easy to him and working with students is a very rewarding job, respectively.
The hardest thing about being a professor for Dr. Byrd is when he is unsuccessful in helping a student understand a certain concept, no matter how hard he tries and works with the student. Although Dr. Byrd loves all the different mathematical formulas and theorems, the Pythagorean theorem is his favorite. Another interesting fact about Dr. Byrd is that his favorite area of math is Trigonometry.
Dr. Byrd believes the best strategy to learning is the ability to study hard and be determined. The best strategy for teaching is to teach for understanding and once a student understands a certain concept they can then learn to build upon their understanding.
He also uses the idea that “nothing succeeds like success” when it comes to his teaching. He strategically makes his first test “easy” in order for a student to succeed. By succeeding, the students want to learn more. The best thing about being a mathematician is associating with like-minded people.
The math professor gave the following advice for all the people who might want to major in an area that entails math: “Take all the math you can. If a curriculum says you only have to take four classes, say “Hey can I take some more?” because you never know when you might need that extra math course. So always get as much math as you can, because it will take you a long way”.
Dr. Byrd grew up around Dothan, Alabama. He went to Newton High School, which is located North of Dothan. He completed his undergraduate work at Troy University, and then he went to the University of South Carolina to obtain his Masters, and on to Auburn to receive his doctorate. He has a Bachelors degree in mathematics, Bachelors in science and math, Masters in math, and holds a Doctorate in mathematics education. He taught high-school level math for three years prior to joining academia.
When asked the question “if you were to start his teaching career over again, what would you do differently?” Dr. Byrd replied “I would have obtained my advanced degree sooner so that I could start teaching college courses sooner”.
For his dissertation, he did a regression analyses problem, which is a statistic problem. He became a teacher because he enjoyed the concept of explaining math to students, and working with students.
Bainbridge State College was not the only college where Dr. Byrd taught, he also taught at a 2-year college in Alabama for 30+ years and at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Dayton Beach, Florida.
Upon retiring from the Alabama University System, he was not fully ready to leave the classroom entirely because of his love of math; thus, he found Bainbridge State College. For Dr. Byrd, the easiest and nicest thing about being a professor is the fact that math comes easy to him and working with students is a very rewarding job, respectively.
The hardest thing about being a professor for Dr. Byrd is when he is unsuccessful in helping a student understand a certain concept, no matter how hard he tries and works with the student. Although Dr. Byrd loves all the different mathematical formulas and theorems, the Pythagorean theorem is his favorite. Another interesting fact about Dr. Byrd is that his favorite area of math is Trigonometry.
Dr. Byrd believes the best strategy to learning is the ability to study hard and be determined. The best strategy for teaching is to teach for understanding and once a student understands a certain concept they can then learn to build upon their understanding.
He also uses the idea that “nothing succeeds like success” when it comes to his teaching. He strategically makes his first test “easy” in order for a student to succeed. By succeeding, the students want to learn more. The best thing about being a mathematician is associating with like-minded people.
The math professor gave the following advice for all the people who might want to major in an area that entails math: “Take all the math you can. If a curriculum says you only have to take four classes, say “Hey can I take some more?” because you never know when you might need that extra math course. So always get as much math as you can, because it will take you a long way”.