Professor wants to take his method coast-to-coast

WASILLA — Professor Ping Tung Chang thinks he’s onto something.

Scratch that. He knows he is.

“I taught an English teacher how to teach English,” he said. “I taught a high school history teacher how to teach history.”

When people try his teaching method they like it, he said. And it gets results.

Chang was last year’s U.S. Professor of the Year, an honor bestowed him by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education last November.

He said he firmly believes that if enough educators are exposed to his teaching method, it could revolutionize the country’s education system.

“Dr. Chang fervently believes it is his mission to change the way people view the teaching of mathematics,” Dennis Clark, former director of Mat-Su College, says in a University of Alaska press release announcing the honor. “I think you would be hard-pressed to find a person who puts more heart and soul into the success of his students.”

So what is this method that has Chang so excited? It’s pretty simple, really. Put the students in charge.

Brittany Maresh, who participated in a training Chang held at Hacienda Restaurant this month, describes the method as upside down.

“Using his inverted ‘student talk, teacher listen’ method gives teachers more time to observe student activities, identify student weakness and provide individualized guidance to encourage student skill improvement,” she wrote in an e-mail. Chang said that in his classes he plays the role of a student. He sits in the class like everyone else. He raises his hand to ask questions and prod them along. The students take turns leading the discussion.

“The teacher should let the student be in charge,” Chang said. “Let the children arrange who is going to do what.”

Chang said this accomplishes a number of things. It breaks down the fear a lot of people have where math is concerned. It promotes critical thinking and public speaking skills. And it makes it more likely that the material will be presented on terms the students can understand and relate to.

The result, Chang said, is a lively class with free-flowing discussion. The students will challenge one another, but with respect and without hurt feelings. As the class goes on, sometimes students will get stuck. At that point, he very gently and very minimally steps back into the professor role. He writes out a mathematics rule that will solve the problem on the board. And then he sits back down.

“PT is a stress reducer,” his assistant, Lenette Hermans, said. “Each student utilizes their strengths in the group.”

Chang said another part of his method is to assign very little homework.

“Do five problems a day and math anxiety goes away,” he says he tells his students.

Hermans said she wishes her boss’ method would catch on, and sooner rather than later. She has a child of her own about to start school.

“Imagine what kind of people we would have if they had to think about the consequences of their actions?” she said. “That’s the way I believe it should wor k.”

Chang said he’s already started sharing his method locally and in Florida. He’s set to attend a conference in China as well. None of those gigs have paid him much of anything, but that’s not really the point.

“My primary (goal) here is to teach the teachers how to teach,” Chang said.

Contact Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.