For Two High School Teachers, Math and Science Add Up to an Award

With an oscilloscope between them, two Trabuco Hills High School teachers virtually sparkled with enthusiasm.

“This is going to be so neat,” said Rowena Hacker, a math teacher.

“There are so many lessons that apply both to math and physics,” said Kathryn Fliegler, a physics teacher.

The two women were in a science lab of the year-old high school in Mission Viejo, preparing for the opening of classes next Thursday.

The oscilloscope is a machine that translates an energy input into a pattern on a fluorescent screen. They will use the device jointly in teaching this fall as part of their math and science project.

Hacker and Fliegler were among 56 science-math teacher teams in the nation to win special awards earlier this year. Hacker and Fliegler received $2,500 each for their own professional development and $10,000 for equipment (including the oscilloscope) and for other costs of implementing their math-physics teaching concept at Trabuco Hills.

Winners of Grant

They were among nine math-science teacher teams in California--and the only ones from Orange County--to win grants in the 1986-87 Growth Initiatives for Teachers (GIFT) program sponsored by GTE Corp. The Connecticut-based firm invited math and science teachers nationwide to apply for the grants.

Hacker, 34, and Fliegler, 35, jointly devised a project called “Mathematics Applied through Physics.” It integrates physics classes taught by Fliegler with the advanced math classes taught by Hacker. The two subjects still will be taught separately, but the teachers will concentrate on common themes.

“Katie will present her physics lesson, and I’ll present my math lesson,” Hacker said. “The kids will get all the math and physics that the state and district said they should get. But they’re going to get more, because Katie and I will be working together, and I will know she is doing a topic in physics that I can tie into in math. And she will know when I’m doing something in math that she can tie in and maybe do a physics presentation.

“Instead of just symbol-pushing on paper, which often doesn’t mean a lot, we can show what all these numbers are doing: tie in abstract mathematical concepts with what happens in physics.”

Analyzing sound on the oscilloscope is one of the joint math-physics projects, the two teachers said.

“When you use sound, the oscilloscope shows sine waves,” said Fliegler. “You can teach about harmonics and all the basics of sound. But actually, what it is is just a sine wave that you can graph on paper.”

“Which is just trigonometry,” Hacker interjected. “This is an example of how the two fit together.

‘Something Happens’

“And there’s something happens when you make a connection between two subjects for students. Suddenly both subjects make more sense. They understand the subjects better, and they retain it better. And that’s the goal of our program: better understanding and retention.”

Fliegler said that pendulum motion is another example of how math and physics will be linked by the two teachers.

“You watch a pendulum, and you seldom think about what is happening mathematically,” Fliegler said. “There are different energy levels. We will show the students the energy levels, and it ends up being a math formula.”

Praise for the two teachers’ prize-winning concept of integrating the two subjects has come from all levels, including a congratulatory statement from Bill Honig, state superintendent of schools. Honig lauded the two Mission Viejo teachers, and eight other prize-winning teacher teams in the state, for “dedication to excellence.”

Honig repeatedly has expressed his concern about dwindling numbers of skilled math and science teachers in California.

During a joint interview, Fliegler and Hacker agreed that temptations are strong for math and science teachers to leave education and go into better-paying jobs. But each has been teaching for 13 years, and, they said emphatically, they believe strongly in their vocation.

“I have a (bachelor’s) degree in math from UC Irvine, and when I got my degree, I was offered a job that initially would have paid more than teaching,” Hacker said. “But all my life I wanted to be a teacher. I could be making $10,000 to $20,000 more on the outside working in industry, but I would never consider getting out of teaching.”

Degree From Temple

Fliegler has a master’s degree in science education from Temple University in Philadelphia. She said that she also could make much more in a non-teaching field.

“Teaching is a very intense job,” she said. “There are some nights that I have to stay up to 1 or 2 in the morning and then get up at 6 to be at school in time. It’s a draining profession, but I really like what I’m doing, and I wouldn’t change. I enjoy working with students.

“I think it’s kind of neat when they get excited about a subject. And I really like it when they decide to make a career of science.”