Kirk brings sixteen years of college-level teaching and tutoring experience in mathematics to SMARTHINKING. He has taught college algebra, finite math, business calculus, math for education majors, and linear algebra at the University of Houston. Before joining SMARTHINKING he was an assistant professor of mathematics at McNeese State University, where his courses included the calculus sequence and differential equations. He also initiated the use of Maple into the math curriculum and received grants to establish a computer classroom. For the past eight years Kirk has been a faculty consultant for the Educational Testing Service, serving as a reader and table leader for AP Calculus scoring. He has also conducted seminars for coaches of Math-Counts, a forum for junior high 'mathletes' to compete while improving their math skills. Kirk received his Doctor of Philosophy in Mathematics from the University of Houston in 1996 and his Masters of Science in Mathematics from the University of Houston in 1993. His research interest is topological semigroups. He has two publications in the Semigroup Forum, a Springer-Verlag journal. |