‘HARD-WORKING’ and ‘tactical’ are two of the words that university lecturer Denarto Dennis uses to describe himself.

But to his students, he is also ‘knowledgeable’, ‘motivated’, ‘inspiring’ and a ‘one-of-a-kind mathematics and statistics teacher’.

“He is a dedicated teacher who really changed the way I saw math and how I learnt it. I used to just try to learn the method, and would easily forget it; but he ensured that we understood the concepts and how they relate to what we were studying,” said one of his former students, 22-year-old Knikae Wright.

The 30-year-old Dennis has been lecturing at the University of the West Indies, Western Campus for four years. In that time, he has managed to secure a consistent 80 per cent and above pass rate with each sitting of the subject areas he lectures.

They include level one mathematics for the social sciences, introductory statistics, introductory statistics for the behavioural sciences, and level two statistics for the behavioural sciences.

In two of these courses, more than 90 per cent of his students consistently receive a passing grade. At the same time, he somehow manages to transform the way his students learn the subjects, instilling in them an appreciation for the content covered while earning their respect.

“I have a strong passion for teaching, as a whole, and for teaching statistics in particular. My passion is simply driven by the need to see students do well, to see students become competent in math, and to see them succeed in my subjects and in their overall academic pursuits,” Dennis told the Jamaica Observer.

He added that he seeks to connect his lessons with everyday situations and to the specific discipline of each of his students.

“In so doing, I attempt to debunk the myth that math and statistics are abstract. I strive to make each lesson or topic seem relevant to intellectual development, academic and life success,” explained Dennis, who has been teaching for seven years.

He added that reinforcing concepts and establishing key linkages between various topics within the subject area also form an important part of his teaching strategy.

Dennis stressed, too, the importance of the development of reasoning skills above recollection skills, noting that in so doing, students are better able to engage in class activities and in the learning process overall.

Critically, he said he makes himself available to his students to help ensure continuity in their learning beyond the classroom.

“The key thing for me is to try and develop the confidence of students by linking complex concepts to their simpler building blocks so that they can see that the more complex problems are really just an extension of the same, more elementary concepts that they previously learnt,” Dennis told Career & Education.

“Also, by linking statistical and mathematical principles to everyday life situations, I show students that they really use a lot of such concepts everyday, and that what they are taught is just a formalisation of these applications,” he said.

Dennis, who is from Ferris in Westmoreland, attended the Manning’s School before enrolling at UWI where he earned a bachelor’s degree in statistics, with a minor in economics. He later acquired a master’s degree in economics and will complete a doctorate in economics later this year.

Dennis taught at Herbert Morrison High School for six months before doing a stint with the University of Technology (UTech).

During his time at UTech, he was named on the Caribbean College Ranking website as one of the most rated instructors and was one of nine lecturers from the region who scored the highest in helpfulness, clarity and teaching ability.

Once he had moved back to western Jamaica, he taught Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Education (CAPE) mathematics, as well as calculus and analytical geometry at the Montego Bay Community College and at the University College of the Caribbean, before taking up his current post.

“I believe that my skills as a teacher have developed progressively over the years. Working hard at the craft and finding innovative ways of delivering the material is very important,” said the educator, who now serves as an applied mathematics examiner (marker) for CAPE.

For himself, Dennis said it was an older cousin with very strong mathematical skills who had fuelled his own interest and skills in the subject area from an early age.

The attentiveness of his high school mathematics teacher, he said, further served to develop his skills.

“I also grew up in a home where playing games like chess and checkers — thinking games — were a popular form of recreation. So from this point, an early interest in math was spawned,” Dennis said.

Dennis’s advice to other math educators

* Ensure that the algebraic fundamentals are reviewed and reinforced in both theory and practice with great consistency. Otherwise, it will be very difficult for students to grasp advanced concepts.

* Build the confidence of your students. I don’t think that there is an absolute rule that governs how this is done. However, from my experience, making each lesson seem as relevant as possible to everyday life and mixing theoretical foundations with practical applications is crucial to confidence building.

* Ensure that the various lessons or topics taught are clearly linked so that students appreciate that oftentimes they are using the same mathematical tools in a different way. This way the subject will seem like a single, coherent language.

* If the classroom environment overall is fun, then learning the subject matter and building the confidence of students is much easier to achieve, so make your classes as fun as possible.