Associate Professor of Mathematics Katy Ott was the first teacher to introduce Nerea Barranco Aramburu ’25 to the experience of learning through small group collaboration. Ott also introduced Arumbu to the idea of learning by revising assignments — many times over, if necessary.

One result is constant feedback, Aramburu says, which helps students feel more included in the classroom, which makes learning math less stressful and more meaningful — even fun. “It was completely different. And it turns out it really works.” 

Associate Professor of Mathematics Katy Ott teaches “Mathematics for Justice" course in Carnegie 339 on Thursday, Sept. 28, at 1:10 p.m. MATH 233 - Mathematics for Social Justice This course teaches quantitative literacy, critical thinking and problem solving skills in a socially relevant context. Students use mathematics as a powerful analytic framework for understanding and developing realistic solutions to issues of social, political, and economic justice. The overarching goal of this course is for students to develop the ability and inclination to use mathematics to understand, and improve, the world around them. Prerequisite(s): MATH 106. Recommended background: MATH 205.
Associate Professor of Mathematics Katy Ott shares a bit of levity with her students in “Mathematics For Social Justice,” on Sept. 28, 2023, in Carnegie Science Hall. Ott co-created the course with colleague Adriana Salerno, professor of mathematics. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)

Ott’s inclusive approach to her craft, her embrace of innovations in teaching, and the positive response from students adds up to an equation for teaching success — and a big reason she earned the college’s 2023 Kroepsch Award for Excellence in Teaching, the college’s highest award for teaching. 

Students and alumni who nominated Ott for the award praise Ott’s teaching talents. “I learn more than ever before while remaining calm,” said one student. “She keeps stress low but learning at a high,” said another, adding a humorous note about Ott’s “baffling” ability to make math interesting in a low-stress environment, which “almost tricks you into understanding the subject.”

Kroepsch Nominations

For alumni and students, nominating a faculty member for the Kroepsch Excellence in Teaching Award is an opportunity to reflect on a dedicated and innovative professor who set the bar high, taught you how to think about the world — and yourself — in new ways; and created learning experiences that sparked a desire for knowledge and understanding.

Ott is part of a cohort of willing Bates faculty members who are shifting their pedagogy — in dramatic fashion, in some cases — to make their classrooms and the material they teach more accessible to students of all backgrounds. 

The shift means taking on, and disrupting, longstanding attitudes about teaching, including the “deficit mindset,” says Lindsey Hamilton ’05, director of the Center for Inclusive Teaching and Learning.

With a “deficit mindset,” an educator believes that a students’ lack of skill or knowledge needs to be fixed or filled in. It leads students very often to say, “I can’t do this,” Hamilton says. A more productive approach, which Ott uses, is to “coach them to say, ‘I’m still learning how to do this.’ It’s a minor thing. But it’s impactful.” 

Associate Professor of Mathematics Katy Ott teaches “Mathematics for Justice" course in Carnegie 339 on Thursday, Sept. 28, at 1:10 p.m.

MATH 233 - Mathematics for Social Justice
This course teaches quantitative literacy, critical thinking and problem solving skills in a socially relevant context. Students use mathematics as a powerful analytic framework for understanding and developing realistic solutions to issues of social, political, and economic justice. The overarching goal of this course is for students to develop the ability and inclination to use mathematics to understand, and improve, the world around them. Prerequisite(s): MATH 106. Recommended background: MATH 205.
Associate Professor of Mathematics Katy Ott works on a lesson with Dani Levy ’25 of Brookline, Mass., during “Mathematics for Social Justice” on Sept. 28, 2023, in Carnegie Science Hall. Behind Levy, right to left, are Qwynn Kobertz ’26 of Framingham, Mass., and Saunders Thompson ’25 of Hinsdale, Ill. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College).

Hamilton says Ott “really takes the time to get to know her students and talk to them about all the ways they are thinking mathematically, about how they are mathematicians. And we know from all sorts of literature that if students feel they belong in the classroom, if they are happier in the classroom, they do better, they learn better, their grades show gains in their knowledge.”

Small-group collaboration is standard for Ott, but it does not start with her saying to her students, “Find a partner.” A mountain of research, says Hamilton, shows that when the instructor places students into groups, it benefits introverted, neurodivergent, and those from minoritized groups by removing the stress of finding a group partner or navigating social circles. It keeps the focus on the learning.

“Almost everything I do now is revision without penalties. Learning math is not about memorizing or performing under pressure. It’s about deep thinking and being persistent, making space to understand things.”

Associate Professor of Mathematics Katy Ott

Another of Ott’s approaches that surprises Aramburu  as she arrived at Bates from Spain is the idea of unlimited revisions of homework. “In Spain I would submit something, get a grade, and move on,” she says. Same goes for most math teaching the U.S., too.

In Ott’s classroom, “I either get it, or I’m not there yet and I do it again, or I almost get there, and I do it again. It makes you a better mathematician, and I actually enjoy math more because I learn from my mistakes now.”

“Almost everything I do now is revision without penalties,” Ott says. “Learning math is not about memorizing or performing under pressure. It’s about deep thinking and being persistent, making space to understand things. I’m trying to help them put their finger on where they’re struggling. Where are the boundaries of their understanding? Don’t hide because it’s a failure. Know what to work on.”

While allowing unlimited revisions might seem, to traditionalists, less rigorous, the advantages are irrefutable, Hamilton said. But it also involves an immense time commitment by the instructor. “Katy got a big laugh in her talk with faculty when she said, ‘Hey, I’m not going to lie. It’s also a ton of work,’” Hamilton said. “Katy is committed.”

Open house for the Center for Inclusive Teaching and Learning, hosted by Lindsey Hamilton ’04 (in green jacket).

Lindsey Hamilton joined the Bates community as the inaugural Director of the Center for Inclusive Teaching and Learning, with a start date of August 15th, 2022. 

Hamilton comes to Bates having provided visionary leadership at the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at the University of Colorado — Denver. With expertise in inclusive pedagogy, including the effective use of high impact, evidence based techniques, Lindsey is known as a creative and expansive thinker.  She is also a Bates College alumna, receiving her B.S. in Neuroscience in 2004. She received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Wake Forest University in 2010, after which she joined the faculty at the University of Colorado Denver.

Also present were Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty Malcolm Hill, Professor of Psychology and Associate Dean of the Faculty Krista Aronson (red glasses), Associate Professor of Mathematics Katharine Ott (black shirt) and Senior Academic Technology Consultant
Shauna'h Fuegen, Information & Library Services  (rust-colored sweater).
Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning Lindsey Hamilton ’04 (second from right), seen hosting a CITL open house in Dana Hall in September 2022, says that Katy Ott (left) does a great job talking with students “about all the ways they are thinking mathematically, about how they are mathematicians.” Second from left is Dean of the Faculty Malcolm Hill, and at right is Professor of Psychology and Associate Dean of the Faculty Krista Aronson. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)

Ott, who also credits support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Inclusive Excellence Initiative for improving her teaching, says that when students make mistakes and are allowed to revise and revise, the process can illuminate parts of a student’s unique approach to problem solving.

When students get a clearer picture of what works for them personally, she said, they make progress. Educators should help students embrace their unique skill set, not punish them for it. 

Like many of her students, Ott said she came from a traditional math background where her high school instructors lectured at the board, then expected students to prove their comprehension by scoring well on timed exams. The final grade was the average score of all the exams. That approach was more or less repeated throughout her undergraduate and graduate math courses.

Associate Professor of Mathematics Katy Ott teaches “Mathematics for Justice" course in Carnegie 339 on Thursday, Sept. 28, at 1:10 p.m.

MATH 233 - Mathematics for Social Justice
This course teaches quantitative literacy, critical thinking and problem solving skills in a socially relevant context. Students use mathematics as a powerful analytic framework for understanding and developing realistic solutions to issues of social, political, and economic justice. The overarching goal of this course is for students to develop the ability and inclination to use mathematics to understand, and improve, the world around them. Prerequisite(s): MATH 106. Recommended background: MATH 205.
Associate Professor of Mathematics Katy Ott listens as Zain Erakky ’26 of New York, N.Y., shares questions and ideas during a lesson in class on Sept. 28, 2023, in Carnegie Science Hall. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College).

But when Ott began doing research in graduate school, en route to earning a Ph.D. in mathematics at the University of Virginia in 2008, she saw another way. She recognized that there was a lot to learn along the road to finding a correct answer.

Using that experience, she tries to mimic the process of mathematical discovery. Her grading is now focused on encouraging students to revise and reflect on their work, rather than on test scores. Her classes celebrate communal collaboration, rather than hierarchy or “star” students.

An infamous contributor to the deficient mindset in education is the timed exam because students who perform poorly are often seen as lacking what it takes. “I was very lucky in that I was predisposed to liking math. So none of that turned me off. And I did well on timed exams. But I don’t think that should be an entrance to mathematics because, in the end, it’s not a skill you need,” Ott said. 

Convocation 2021 on the Historic Quad, followed by”In Memoriam: Planting New Life” on Augu. 31, 2021.

Mace Bearer Michael P. MurrayCharles Franklin Phillips Professor of Economics

Faculty MarshalsDolores O’HigginsEuterpe B. Dukakis Professor of Classical and Medieval Studies Kirk D. ReadProfessor of French and Francophone Studies

Senior Class Marshals; Fernando Rojas Christina Wang 

Music Bates Brass QuintetOpening Convocation11 a.m.Tuesday, August 31, 
2021Historic Quad Processional*

WelcomeA. Clayton Spencer President 
Greetings Kush Sharma ’23 and Marcos Pacheco Soto ’24, Co-Presidents, Bates College Student Government

On the Opening of the Bonney Science Center: Malcolm S. HillVice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty

Convocation Address: “Where Do We Even Begin?” Katharine A. Ott Associate Professor of Mathematics

Benediction Brittany A. Longsdorf Multifaith Chaplain 

Recessional

Memorial Tree Planting  

On the Quad across from Lindholm House Immediately following Convocation, all are invited to attend a brief tree planting ceremony in memory of those in the Bates community who died during the past year. Convocation LunchIf the weather is fine, all are invited to lunch on the Library Quad. *The audience is requested to stand.
In addition to the Kroepsch Award, another testament to Katy Ott’s reputation as an outstanding teacher was being chosen by the senior class in 2021 to deliver the Convocation Address to the incoming Class of 2025 the following September. Ott told the new students that it’s OK to ask questions about what they’re trying to learn as soon as they get confused. “Be honest and forthcoming about where you are with your understanding. Don’t let questions or confusions get buried.” (Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)

“It’s unfortunate for so many who really enjoy math, but are left out, turned away, or lose interest because of these high-stakes exams. I think if a class has clear learning objectives and students can  show they’ve met those learning objectives, in my view, that deserves a good grade.”

Today, Ott watches carefully for a defeatist mindset among her students, especially those who didn’t benefit from a strong math background, or those who see themselves lacking problem-solving skills. It’s her undying quest to put equity at the forefront of teaching.

“Mathematics is dominated by men and the representation of Black and Hispanic Americans is very, very low,” Ott said. “I’ve gotten a lot of professional development at Bates to help create an inclusive classroom. At the beginning it all felt really overwhelming. It’s this huge systematic problem. But I started making small, local-type changes, and then adding more and more.”

One class she teaches that focuses on the issue is “Mathematics for Social Justice,” in which students look at problems in society through the lens of math. It is a class Ott helped to co-created in 2021 with colleague Adriana Salerno, professor of mathematics. The ability to do math is a form of power, Ott said. “In our current society, everything is about data. Knowing math and not being afraid of it puts you in a position of power.”

Associate Professor of Mathematics Katy Ott teaches “Mathematics for Justice" course in Carnegie 339 on Thursday, Sept. 28, at 1:10 p.m.

MATH 233 - Mathematics for Social Justice
This course teaches quantitative literacy, critical thinking and problem solving skills in a socially relevant context. Students use mathematics as a powerful analytic framework for understanding and developing realistic solutions to issues of social, political, and economic justice. The overarching goal of this course is for students to develop the ability and inclination to use mathematics to understand, and improve, the world around them. Prerequisite(s): MATH 106. Recommended background: MATH 205.
With her students in working groups she selected, Associate Professor of Mathematics Katy Ott encourages a collaborative approach to learning during a class on Sept. 28, 2023, in Carnegie Science Hall. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)

For Christian Cabello ’25 of La Canada Flintridge, Calif., taking Ott’s social justice course drove home how important and valuable math is for navigating daily life. He’s been able to use the skills gained from the course to help with an ongoing project that seeks to give a Hispanic community in Providence, R.I., better access to online information on critical public issues in their community. 

Cabello got connected to the project through the project’s founder, Carrie Diaz Eaton, an associate professor of digital and computational studies at Bates.

“My grandparents on my dad’s side are from a Latin American country, so I can relate to the older Latin-American community not knowing really how to use technology and not knowing what is accessible to them,” said Cabello, a math and Hispanic studies double major. “We’re trying to make them more aware of these resources, to provide really basic information that is easy to navigate.” 

Cabello calls Ott’s approach to teaching a winning formula, and he’s grateful to have benefited from Ott’s insights and guidance.

“She’s aware of what her students are capable of even if the student doesn’t know that,” he says. “She really wants us to be the best version of ourselves.”