SPEAKER_01 0:00

You're listening to the Support Ed Learning Podcast, where we challenge the status quo of education and reimagine what learning should be. I'm Dr. Joe Sebastian, and in every episode we dive into critical thinking, Bloom's Taxonomy, educational innovation, and how AI is shaping the future of learning. Whether you're a teacher, parent, policymaker, or lifelong learner, you're in the right place to rethink, reshape, and revive education. Welcome back to the Supported Learning Podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Joe Sebastian. I am joined by a veteran mathematics instructor at Phoenix College and the creator of Math is Power for You. With a master's in mathematic education and decades of classroom experience, he has developed a comprehensive library of now over 9,500 instructional videos. His work is the cornerstone cornerstone of the open education resource OER movement, widely integrated into textbooks and platforms like Lumen Learning. He's a lead content developer dedicated to the philosophy of free, universal access to high-quality STEM education. My guest today is none other than James Sousa. James, welcome to the podcast. How are you? Thank you. I'm great. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. So just chatting before we started recording, sending in close to retirement, huh? How long have you been in education? This will be my 30 congratulations and thank you for your years of service in the education field. Thank you. So how does uh an educator, a math teacher, go on to make close to 10,000 instructional videos?

SPEAKER_00 1:37

Well, that's a good question. Um a lot of time alone in a room making math videos, but really I would say it's all started because after I spent a year teaching in a junior higher middle school, five years teaching high school, and then when I got my master's, I decided to move over to the community college mathematics. And, you know, in college, students have to buy their own textbooks. And I got really quickly, I learned that you know, students were getting a late start because they couldn't buy the book until the second week or school, or third week, even sometimes, and they're already behind. I wanted students to be able to have all of their course materials on day one and ready to learn. And so there were quite a few OER textbooks available. And then one man, Jake David Littman, wrote this free online homework system. And then what was missing were the video components of the course material. So I started roughly 16, 17 years ago, started making math videos to kind of support the OER movement and help kind of complete these OER courses so they had all the resources that students could be successful. And it was all available on one on day one. So every student had what they needed to be successful as far as the curriculum and the materials. And so there was no real excuse for not being able to have the textbook or any of the learning tools on day one. So that's what got me started.

SPEAKER_01 2:56

Do you see that as a barrier to this to a STEM degree? Is these multi-hundred dollar textbooks?

SPEAKER_00 3:03

Yes, definitely. And that's what the publisher were offering. They were offering, you know, a textbook, online homework with video support. And so the OER movement had to match that to up to compete, but also offer something different and maybe better.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

You're the master of the mini lesson. So why is a six-minute targeted video often more effective than a 60-minute classroom lecture?

SPEAKER_00 3:33

Well, I always like to think that the videos allow students to customize their instruction. You know, if you're sitting in a lecture for an hour, you get one chance to get it. You're probably not going to feel comfortable asking a question, and versus say six, say five or six six-minute videos over the same content where you can pause it, you can rewind it, you can fast forward if you already know the content. So it really allows students to customize the instruction to their needs.

SPEAKER_01 4:00

For the parents listening out there, how can they use your library as a digital tutoring system to help their kids move from lower grades to higher grades, maybe even a three to five on the AP exam, or improve their mathematical knowledge in a college course?

SPEAKER_00 4:17

Sure. Well, there's there's quite a few options. I mean, on YouTube, I do have playlists. I do have the website, MathisPowerFourU.com, that's organized by course and a long list of videos in sequence. But also, as I mentioned, the OER homework system developed by David Littman, now called My Open Math, they have free self-study courses. My university, my uh district, Maricopa Community College District, has their own installation of the same program. It's an OER online homework system. And we also have self-study courses. So anybody anywhere can access those. And the videos that I make extroverts kind of chew pipe. The mini lessons, like you mentioned, the six to eight minute videos that are like teaching the topics from the beginning. But then when they're in this online homework system and they're doing their homework, pretty much every single homework question has a link at the bottom of the screen that shows an example very similar to the one they're working on. And those are really the most popular videos because they're very, very fine-tuned to what students need at that moment.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

So your work with Lumen Learning and other OER platforms, where do you see the traditional classroom in five years?

SPEAKER_00 5:32

Well, actually, just recently I started working with um professor.chat, which offers an AI tutoring program with video support. And so that's kind of where I think it's going to go with AI changing education in a dramatic way. I think every student's probably gonna be able to have their own AI tutor to hopefully get them from point A to point B in the best way that they can based upon maybe what gaps they might have or what learning deficiencies they might have, and kind of bridge those gaps more effectively than just you know having one curriculum for everybody in the class and hoping that's gonna make everybody successful. And we know at the community college level, success rates can always be improved.

SPEAKER_01 6:14

Why is the instructional video now or still the foundational backbone of learning?

SPEAKER_00 6:21

Uh well, I think that may change some with AI, but I think again, because it allows students to use them in the way that they need. I've had students comment that you know they they really like that they can pause the video and take their time to learn the concepts. Pair that with AI, where you can actually have a conversation with AI. I mean, I try to tell my students that I don't try to avoid AI, even though I know it can lead to cheating, but it's also an excellent tool because you can have a conversation with AI and it'll help you explain. If you just use it get answers, yeah, that's not gonna be a great learning tool. But if you ask questions, you know, why is that the why is that the correct number, or why is why are those the units in the answer? It'll explain it to you and it'll explain your exact problem. So pairing that with the initial video instruction and the video support, I think it's gonna be a great resource for students.

SPEAKER_01 7:14

This episode is brought to you by Supported Tutoring, where we don't just help students get better grades, we help them become critical thinkers. Whether it's mastering AP exams, maximizing college applications, or building lifelong learning habits, our expert tutors focused on critical thinking, confidence, and real growth. Head to supportedtutoring.com to find the support your student deserves. When you I'm sure you've heard it, I hear it a lot. I'm just bad at math. How do you respond to a student that just says, listen, I'm just not a math person?

SPEAKER_00 7:49

Well, I would I would push them on that. I would ask them, why do you why do you believe that? And then, you know, based upon their response, I would give them more feedback. I mean, today that's kind of an acceptable comment, but I don't like that as an acceptable comment. Maybe they had a bad experience, maybe they don't have the confidence. There's a whole bunch of reasons why a student can say they're just not good at math. But if they know the value of mathematics, and if you can somehow get over that obstacle and foster curiosity in mathematics, to me, that's a big thing. You know, we focus so much on the competencies of a course. I like to start a lot of my classes with something general interest math concept to just get them into why we care about math. We jump right into the procedures and the competencies, it's dry. They don't see the meaning of it. And so um, I think it's uh as an instructor, it's our responsibility to foster that curiosity. And getting back to your question, that's that's why I think it's important to see why they feel like they're not good at math, and ask them do you think it's important for people to understand mathematics and you know see what they say? So I I don't I don't we don't like those comments, but yeah, you have to get more information to kind of see how to address that.

SPEAKER_01 9:02

So, yeah, so how do I mean so you know the but that it is a limiting belief, it is a mindset really of canning can any can anyone live learn math? Yes, I think so. So what are we getting wrong about teaching math that leads us to have because I I've heard that more than anything else, probably being in education for about 16 years is I'm just not I'm just not a math person, right? Uh how what is it that is that is wrong with how we're currently teaching, and what do you propose we do differently to make everybody a math person?

SPEAKER_00 9:40

Yeah, well, I think it does again, it does come back to as an instructor developing and promoting curiosity about understanding mathematics and how it relates to the real world. I mean, just understanding how big is a million? And you know, tell them if I put a million seconds of time on the clock, how long would that be? Okay, if I make a million dollars in a year, how much would you make each day? Most students care about money, so I kind of often like to tie into the the money concept. It comes out to you'd make $2,700 a day every day for a year to make a million dollars in one year. And it turns out to be, I think it's 11.6 or 7 days of time. And okay, well, what about what about a billion? How big is a billion? How big is a trillion? I mean, our deficit's 39 trillion, right? Right. I mean, just the other day we were talking about okay, if we had $39 trillion debt, how much would that be per American? Okay, whatever that is. But of course, not everyone's a taxpayer. You can't have someone that's one year old pay the bill. So if you break it down to taxpayers, so we jump online, how many taxpayers are in the US? And you break it down into how much it's like $300,000 every individual taxpayer would have to pay off to pay off our national debt. So those kind of things to me, I guess students interested in mathematics and why they might care about mathematics, even if they're not related to the topic that day.

SPEAKER_01 11:02

What what do you what do you see? So you mentioned the AI tutor component. Why do you think that's such a valuable commodity for us as learners going forward?

SPEAKER_00 11:13

I think because of the customization right now, I mean, even in the classes I teach in person, you have this set of curriculum, and you of course you have students at all different levels. The curriculum is what it is, and that's why we have not the best success rates at times. And so if you had AI to kind of diagnose students' deficiencies and provide individual support for those students, it can tie into videos that were support that as well and practice problems. I I mean I can't, I'm sure more students would be successful that way. But you have to kind of, as an instructor, you have to let lay low let low of that control of every student's grade at every moment in time.

SPEAKER_01 11:58

Absolutely. Um what if you're okay? We're gonna go to the lightning round. So just a couple rapid fire questions. Okay. First thing that comes to mind. Most underrated math concept that every student should master.

SPEAKER_00 12:12

Financial math for sure. That's my favorite class to teach. It's in our liberal arts math class. TVM solver, savings annuity, pattern annuities, loans, big deal on loans. Really valuable.

SPEAKER_01 12:27

Um, what is the most over so what is the most uh overrated math concept right now?

SPEAKER_00 12:35

Oh geez. Overrated. Overrated.

SPEAKER_01 12:52

Let me come back to that one. Okay. How about it all if you can go back and tell your early teaching self one thing, what would it be?

SPEAKER_00 13:02

I would be it would be to I don't even think of it in terms of always just teaching, but just in general, don't worry about what other people think and do what you think is the most important for your students in the classroom.

SPEAKER_01 13:15

How about one piece of advice for a student who says I'm just not a math person?

SPEAKER_00 13:19

Yeah. I would say, okay, so tell me one thing you're good at. And how did you get good at it? And typically they had to work work at it step by step and build from the beginnings, and they just fill up that skill. But I think a lot of that too is that finding something they have grit and determination to accomplish, if they can if they can have that same mindset for that topic, then they can they can do it for mathematics as well. And I mean I try to uh illustrate that in my own teaching classroom by how I perform and what I do. I mean, I for example, I I love working out. I'm in the morning, I'm in the gym every morning at 4 a.m. And I don't always want to go, but you go because it's not about motivation, it's about determination. And you're not always gonna be motivated. And so I would again try to tie it into something that they do care about and then try to transition that grit and motivation to what they're saying they're not good at and why they might want to reconsider um that.

SPEAKER_01 14:23

And um, where can people find the library of all your videos and connect with you?

SPEAKER_00 14:30

Yeah, math is powerforyu.com.

SPEAKER_01 14:32

And you're on YouTube and LinkedIn, correct? Yes, yeah. All right. I appreciate it. Yeah, James, one question we didn't get to. Well, anything anything I didn't get to that you wanted to talk about?

SPEAKER_00 14:43

I just would say is as an instructor, the OER movement for me has probably been the most rewarding experience of my entire career because it has allowed me to collaborate not just with the colleagues at my own college, but across my district and across the nation. And it's really a team effort for all these courses that have been developed over time. And it's really been a privilege to be a part of that movement. I mean, I appreciate you know you acknowledging my work and the video component of it, but it really is just a piece of the larger picture. And I do look forward to, I know my time teaching is probably limited, but I feel like I have a lot more to give. And I look forward to trying to move my content to a higher level or mainstream in different formats because I feel like it does have value. I've never really focused on the flashy thumbnail thumb tag or thumbnails or promoting my content, but I look forward to uh continuing helping students be successful in mathematics.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

Appreciate that. Uh, James, thank you so much for coming on the Supported Learning Podcast. Yeah, well, thank you for having me. Absolutely. All right, and we'll catch you all next time. Thanks for joining. Take care. Thanks for joining us on the Supported Learning Podcast. If today's conversation inspired you, challenged you, or sparked a new perspective, be sure to subscribe and share with a fellow change maker. We'll be back soon with more voices, more insight, and more ways to elevate the future of learning together. Until then, keep learning and keep pushing the conversation forward.