Math HeadStart is an online program that the Mathematics Department at Humber College has created to help first year students enhance their math skills. Math HeadStart addresses the basic math concepts and skills every student needs to be successful in their first semester. What is unique about this program is that students can independently use the resources, choosing the topics they need, and work at their own pace.

In this talk we will provide information on how the Math HeadStart works, how it is organized, and how it is offered to students. Through some real examples from first year math students' work, we will demonstrate how Math HeadStart can be employed to strengthen their math skills. Humber College can easily make this resource available to any other educational institution, such as colleges and high schools.

Mona Bayani-Keyvani – Bio

Mona immigrated to Canada in 2000, shortly after obtaining her Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering in Iran. Subsequently, she completed a Diploma in Applied Statistics and a Master’s degree in Statistics from the University of Guelph.  Working as a teaching assistant during her postgraduate study inspired her to start teaching. To learn more about teaching skills, Mona returned to school and obtained a Bachelor of Education with qualifications in Mathematics from York University. Since she started working at Humber college in 2011, Mona strived to make her classroom relevant to our ever-changing world, and therefore to employ a variety of technology such as video making, online teaching, and creating web-based courses such as Math HeadStart. Mona enjoys working with a variety of students from different cultural and mathematical backgrounds at Humber and is eager to create a fun, safe and supportive environment in her classrooms.

Ermira Cami - Bio

Ermira is a Mathematics Professor at Humber College ITAL. Equipped with a Bachelor of Science in Electronics from Tirana Polytechnic University, a Master's degree and Ph.D./ABD in Mathematics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, as well as a long teaching experience in college, university, and high school level, she has been teaching Technical Math and Calculus courses at Humber for twelve years, in-person and online. Combining her passion for math, teaching, and helping students, she is always in search of better ways to help struggling students. In 2018 she embraced and worked on the Math HeadStart, a powerful resource for students in strengthening their mathematical background and enhancing their mathematical skills. Now she is focused on measuring and analyzing the effectiveness of this resource through students’ feedback.