Fulbright Scholar to Practice Flipped Classroom in India

When Tina Carter, lecturer of mathematics and coordinator of Buffalo State’s general-education math course, arrives at the University of Hyderabad in India, she hopes to fulfill a two-part mission.

“As a Fulbright Scholar, I will be teaching abstract algebra to 70 students enrolled in the School of Mathematics and Statistics,” said Carter. Her Fulbright proposal was to teach in India using a hybrid model of a flipped classroom. Such a class “flips” the pattern of a traditional lecture course, so that students study the material on their own outside of class and then work on problems, with the help of the instructor, in the classroom. Carter will create videos for students to watch at home.

Carter’s interest in flipping the classroom stemmed from her success doing so in calculus II and abstract algebra classes at Buffalo State. She is currently principal investigator of a research study to assess the effects of flipping the classroom on student outcomes in an introductory math course. A video she made for her class of 19 abstract algebra students has been viewed by more than 10,000 people worldwide. This surprised Carter and inspired her research in the flipped classroom and her Fulbright proposal.

Carter’s mission of a personal nature will be volunteering for Akshaya Patra, a non-governmental organization dedicated to providing meals to children attending India’s public schools. Besides the satisfaction inherent in such work, Carter is looking forward to honoring her late son, Tim. He spent an extended time in India working and performing in accordance with the teachings of ISKCON, a Hindu sect most Americans know as Hare Krishna. ISKCON founded Akshaya Patra, but relinquished control so that it could become non-religious and eligible for foundations’ support. “It comforts us to support what he loved and believed in,” Carter said.

Carter’s husband, Randy Carter, is professor emeritus of biostatics at UB. He will teach a graduate course in biostatistics and collaborate with professors at the CR Rao Advanced Institute of Mathematics, Statistics, and Computer Science while the couple spends spring 2016 at the University of Hyderabad. “The purpose of the Fulbright program is to increase understanding and exchange ideas between Americans and people of other countries,” said Carter. “We love learning about different cultures, so we’re looking forward to it.”