Meet Leslie Molnar, College of the Rockies

Leslie knows what it’s like to be one of the only women math students in a class. The way she was taught math didn’t fit her own learning style, however, Leslie persevered and excelled, and wants to share her love of math with other students. She plans to use her fellowship to look into how the “gamification” approaches can be used to improve student success in calculus. Many students struggle with post-secondary calculus, resulting in low numbers from Calculus 1 continuing on to Calculus 2. Leslie feels that by using elements from video gaming, students will be motivated to “level up” through a more visible form of peer competition and feedback on their own performance. By expanding the methods by which math is taught, Leslie wants students to have a better experience than she did, “I get such a feeling of satisfaction watching students ‘see the light’, gain confidence in themselves, and move on towards their goals.”

Notable quote:

“Throughout North America, the attrition rate for first-year post-secondary level calculus is too high, despite the fact that many of the enrolled students have excellent grades from their secondary studies and most have already passed a high-school-level calculus course. I was looking for a way to increase students’ engagement and participation in first-year calculus, and decided adding gamification elements was a good option to try.” – Leslie Molnar

Research as a BCcampus Scholarly Teaching Fellow: