Once an online student. Now teaching online. Adjunct Mathematics faculty Randall Beeman uses his experience as a student to create a vibrant, open, and engaged classroom.
Beeman’s early days in college were challenging. There were firsts: first in his family to attend college. First time away from home. And he was reluctant to ask for help. When he returned to school a second time, online through IU East, one factor made a profound difference: the power of personal connections.
Connection matters
“Some have the idea that online learning can seem remote or inferior compared to in-person classes. That’s not the case. I remember how much I gained as a student from professors making themselves available for personal connection, especially with IU Online Mathematics Professors Nayeong Kong and Pepe Giminez, and Anthropology Professor Aaron Comstock.
Beeman understands reaching out can feel more difficult in asynchronous online classes, given what may seem like reduced proximity to professors and classmates. He says, “As adjunct faculty, I make sure I’m available for my students who may need that. I’m not pushing it, so I’m active on discussion boards. I send emails assuring them they can come to me for help. I advertise office hours. My Supplemental Instructor is also available to help. I try to build as much personal connection as I can because that helped me get through school. I want my students to know they are supported.”
Beeman gets students’ busyness
As an online student, Beeman worked full time in his career in veterinary medicine. “Today’s students have the same challenges. They’re taking three to four classes a semester and often working full time, just as I did in my student days.”
He’s sensitive to their schedules. “I want my students to feel they’re part of a community. But I don’t assign extra work to create community. Instead, I build on what they’re already doing. Discussion boards are good at sparking interaction and discussion. So I require students to create three posts on two different days, for 15 percent of the grade. I’m part of the give and take, part of the conversation, asking questions right along with everyone else. When students are connected and engaged, everybody learns.”
Empowering students
“I try to listen all the time. Even if students are headed down a wrong path, I try to find out what parts are correct. I look for the thing they’re confused about and try to correct that. They have the space to have the ideas and speak. It’s OK to be wrong, especially with abstract concepts, which are really difficult. I’m still learning things—we all are, and we will all be wrong. Share your ideas, I say, even if they’re wrong, because we learn from our mistakes. Post even if you think you’re wrong and we’ll have a discussion about that. I want them to know I make mistakes too. When I’m wrong, I acknowledge it, to encourage them. We’re all learning together.”
The role (and power) of Supplemental Instruction
As a student, Beeman found Supplemental Instruction (SI) a helpful and interesting concept. He recalls, “In school with full-time work, I didn’t have the confidence to be an SI, but I wanted to know more about math. I sent an email out of the blue to my former professor Pepe Jiminez, asking for recommendations on readings about number theory. I expected to get book recommendations. Instead, Jiminez asked whether I wanted to help with his course. I became a course assistant, then an SI leader.
“Supplemental Instruction is extremely good at encouraging personal connections. It’s usually a consistent group of four or five students, ‘regulars,’ and any others who want to come, who enjoy discussing that week’s materials while also building friendships. Some of my early SI friends remain friends today. I want my students to have that experience, so I give extra credit to those who attend SI sessions.”
Greatest satisfaction as instructor
“Before my experience as an SI, I hadn’t envisioned a career in teaching. Now I’m teaching two sections of Bridge to Abstract Mathematics (Math 393), the first class that degree-seeking students take before heavy proof-based classes.
“There’s a lot I enjoy about teaching. I try to be a supportive instructor. It’s gratifying to see students come up with the right answer with or without prompting, and properly explain something. I love seeing one student feel confident enough to explain a concept to another. Discussion boards allow for lots of that.”
Online means diverse ideas
“Online can provide amazing opportunities for education that we can’t always have in person. You meet people from all over the world. I’ve had classmates and students from China, Korea, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, all over the US. This diversity is fantastic. You hear different ideas, points of view, ways of examining things. You leave behind the homogeneity of common backgrounds with its assumptions and pitfalls. You hear new questions, new perspectives. Everyone benefits from the wide-open lens.”
Why IU Online?
Beeman spent 15 years in veterinary medicine‚ doing emergency critical care—high-stress, active, and extremely physical work that takes a heavy toll on the body. Days off meant recovering from physical pain. He tried alternatives to physical work—management, training others in veterinary medicine, giving lectures on math to national audiences, mixing math with vet experience. Finally, math offered a direction.
“As a student, I looked for an established program with a track record before 2020, when a lot of schools were throwing together online programs. IU East fit the bill. They’d learned from years of experience, meaning a better, more trustworthy program. I felt math was something they were passionate about.” Beeman is now in his fourth year at IU East, with two as a student and two on the faculty.
The lure of math
Beeman is one of many people who have chosen to return to school to study Mathematics online at IU East. They come for curiosity, to explore an interest, enhance a professional path, or develop a new one. Read their stories here, and especially under the Mathematics drop-down tab. Do you see yourself in any of these accounts? Beeman is happy to talk to anyone about math and his experience with it. You can reach him at rabeeman@iu.edu.
