COSAM News Articles 2023 May DMS Professor Hal Schenck publishes book using methods developed during the pandemic

DMS Professor Hal Schenck publishes book using methods developed during the pandemic

Published: 05/09/2023

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As DMS Professor Hal Schenck prepared to teach his applied topology course during the summer of 2020, the pandemic was in full swing, and faculty across the country were struggling with how to teach amid the challenges of hybrid learning and reach students despite a mainly digital presence.

Schenck never imagined that his summer class on applied topology and data analysis, taught under the shadow of COVID-19, would develop into a project that impacted students and researchers outside of Auburn. Based on the needs of his class – mainly students in statistics — and the constraints of the pandemic, Schenck modified both the teaching methods and course material to create a course that was unique in both format and content. Teaching complex mathematics can be challenging even in optimal in-person settings. Schenck tackled the issue by developing new learning approaches that blended online lectures with collaborative problem-solving and office hours.