Faculty Spotlight: Dr. Joe Busch

FACULTY SPOTLIGHT: JOE BUSCH, PH.D.

When you read a resume that includes a BA in Math with Physics minor from Boston University, a MS in Math from NYU, a MA in Math from UCLA, a CPhil in Math from UCLA and a PhD in Math from UCLA, you probably make some quick assumptions – researcher, engineer, college professor, astronaut, or perhaps you think of someone who just does complex algorithms all day. Dr. Joe Busch could do any of those things full time (okay, astronaut may be a stretch since he has a fear of heights), but he chose instead to be a teacher at Archer. Why? Because when he came to the School for the first time, he saw something different. “During the interview process I gave a sample lesson for 8th grade geometry. The girls were involved and on the edge of their seats, they were excited and engaged, lively and interested. I got positive, real-time feedback from my teaching and it was then that I realized that being in an Archer classroom was what I wanted to do all day every day.”

Now in his fourth year, Dr. Busch says it is hard to imagine teaching anywhere else. “Archer has a clear mission when it comes to teaching girls math,” he says. “We help girls to discover their potential in mathematics and then perform at an elevated level.” Dr. Busch firmly believes that every student has the ability to take calculus. “By increasing a student’s competence in math, you increase their confidence to attempt mastering more sophisticated and subtle mathematical concepts.”

He also believes there is a distinctive difference in the way girls learn and process math as opposed to boys. “In my experience it seems that girls tend to learn best when they learn inductively, going from specific real-world examples to abstract relationships. Boys are a bit more top down,” he says. “The difference between girls and boys is in learning style, not in ability or potential for achievement at the highest level.”

For the first time in our nation’s history, more women are attending college than men, yet only 13% of girls pursue careers in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering or math). According to Dr. Busch, the challenge is to help girls realize what could come next in the world of science and engineering.

“With the advancements in technology, there are a lot of exciting things we, as teachers, can do to address the needs of students while simultaneously helping them see the myriad opportunities that lay ahead,” he says. “Realtime, tailored learning is key. I always try to make my classroom as student-centered and studentdriven as possible.”

While Dr. Busch continues to refine his teaching practice, he also continues to work on research in complexity theory from his dissertation titled “Lower Bounds in Arithmetic Complexity Via Asymmetric Embeddings”...as a hobby.