For the Love of Math

New University of Delaware alumna Jenna Paltenstein gravitated toward mathematics early, her love for the subject already evident in elementary school. When she got to UD, she took advantage of all it had to offer from research to peer tutoring, earning awards and accolades along the way to graduating in May with a bachelor's degree in mathematics education. Today, she is ready to begin sharing that affinity by teaching high school students in her hometown of Monroe, New Jersey.

As a first-grader, Paltenstein often “played around with math workbooks on the weekend," so it makes sense that she would choose to spend her summers as part of UD's summer research scholar program. Mahya Ghandehri, her Calculus II professor, invited Paltenstein to join a research project with several graduate students in 2021, after her freshman year.

Learning by doing … research

“I didn't know anything about doing a research project," said Paltenstein. But after a month spent learning about the process—which came from materials in a course she would take the following semester—she used math coding software to do calculations needed by the other researchers.

“The goal of the project—signal processing on the permutahedron, which is a graph made from symmetric groups—was to prove a theorem related to the concept that you can create a graph with 24 different points by swapping two of the numbers using the graph as the starting point," she explained.

The following summer, Ghandehri recommended her for another project. This time, Paltenstein worked on correlations in quantum games via Entaglement, which looked at game theory and probability, specifically one example of a game that's impossible to win.

Perhaps her favorite research project, though, is the one that is ongoing and began last summer.

“I started helping out with a project about middle school students' dispositions toward math and their ability to problem-solve and problem-pose, my first research related to education," she said. “It's fun to read what the students write to fill in the blanks in statements such as, 'If math were a food, it would be ____.' And 'If math were an animal it would be ___ .'

“Those who hate math write broccoli and spiders," she said with a laugh. She entered the responses in an Excel spreadsheet and coded them, turning the answers into numerals.

At the end of each project, she presented her work via a poster at the program's student symposium.

Mentoring other teachers

In addition to working on summer research projects, Paltenstein has been a mentor for first-year seminar students and done math education peer mentoring for math education majors, where she helped students in their first two years as they learned how to choose and schedule classes and taught them what to expect while student teaching.

“Helping students get to know each other early on is important," she said. “This was different for my fellow students and me because our first year was all virtual because of COVID. I like to work to help build community between the younger students."

In early May, Paltenstein learned that she won two student teaching awards—one at the department level and one at the university level.

Students across all the education programs in UD compete for the latter, the DASA award, and only one award is given each year, to a senior in a teacher education program who has “demonstrated outstanding qualities of scholarship, leadership and character, and who gives promise of making a meaningful contribution to the teaching profession."

The Secondary Education Student Teaching Award is given to someone who has “inspired and engaged their students with the theories, content and big ideas of their discipline."

“I am so honored to receive both of these awards," said Paltenstein. “They recognize the hard work I've put in during my student teaching semester. To be chosen for the DASA award out of all students in teacher preparation programs is truly an honor as well as a shock. Receiving them reassures me that I have chosen the right field for me and will allow me to make an impact on future generations."

In addition to awards, Paltenstein has won the admiration of her professors.

“Jenna is a dedicated student and a natural leader," said Jinfa Cai, Kathleen and David Hollowell Professor of Mathematics Education. “She is passionate about teaching and has a natural talent for it. She is so effective because of her natural capacity to connect to students and her caring attitude."​

​​Although Paltenstein originally planned to teach first grade (because her love of math seems to have originated when she, herself, was in that grade) she loves the high school students she has gotten to know over the course of two semesters as a student teacher in­­­­­ Mt. Pleasant High School in Wilmington.

“I'm not much older than these students—maybe five or six years—and that's a little strange," said Paltenstein, 21. “But it's good too, because I can create a rapport and connect with the things they like and how they spend their time. That has made the teaching easier."

Her choice of University of Delaware came down to two criteria: “Number one was its excellent secondary education program, which is not that common," she said. And number two? “I wanted a classic campus with big green and brick buildings all around it. UD has all of that and it was, and still is, No. 1 for me."

Sharing what she has learned

She has some advice for others wanting to teach, especially at the secondary level.

“Take every opportunity to be in a leadership role. Tutor, help friends, mentor others and ask yourself if this is what you really like doing all the time. Start as an education major, then switch to the content area you want. This gives you the chance to explore the education side and still have the math degree if you want to switch [out of education.]

And while she is excited to begin her new job at Monroe High School, her alma mater, in September, where she will teach 9th through 12th grades, she knows she will be nervous. “Most of the teachers I had are still there, and those I interviewed with remembered me," she said. “This is cool. I'm not in a student role anymore… it will be interesting."​

Article by Brenda Lange​