Math professor appreciated by his students

[media-credit id=1 align=”aligncenter” width=”600″][/media-credit]

A college professor in mathematics can have a strong influence in the lives of students.
Vinh Kha Nguyen, who has taught math at San Jose City College for three years, is an active professor who helps students to become involved in learning math. His philosophy is to let his students lead the class and make them think and work with classmates.
Nguyen presents a problem to his students, gives them time to work it out, then he solves the problems on the board and explains how he solved them. He always asks if the students have any questions because he wants to make sure everyone understands the subject.
Nguyen’s students say he is a good teacher who cares about them.
“He is a friendly professor who is easy to approach and talk to,” student Merciful Sarin said.
Other students said he is strict in the way he grades their homework and tests.
Nguyen knows math is not a subject for everyone, not everyone wants to be a professor.
However, he always encourages students to become a teacher in math.
Teaching is one of the most important careers and teaching math in a community college is rewarding, Nguyen said.
He explains to his students the great things about being a professor in math. He said he feels proud to see young students learn all the rules in algebra and learn how to work in statistics.
“It takes time to prepare and master all theorems and rules,” he said.
Nguyen is not sure what exactly influenced him to become a teacher. As a young professor, he always has a great time finding solutions to math problems.
He said as a high school student he knew he wanted to interact with young kids and help them. His interest in teaching continued to grow through high school. One day one of his professors inspired him to follow his dream to become a teacher.
Nguyen has taught Calculus 071 and Statistics. He has been working for three years at SJCC.
His first internship was as a volunteer at the tutorial center at SJCC. He helped students and earned experience teaching in math. He considers himself a “friendly and supportive faculty member.”
His passion for working with numbers enables him to enjoy teaching any subject regarding math with enthusiasm.
Nguyen’s students recognize him as a responsible and intelligent professor with great experience and knowledge in math to share with students.
Nguyen is an energetic, ambitious professor who works hard to achieve his dreams. He considers himself an “open-minded and optimistic professor who is willing to support students.”
He said he is having a great time being a part of SJCC. He says SJCC is a great place to teach the young generation, “a nice place to be a volunteer and earn some experience.” He also likes that SJCC is near his home so he doesn’t have “to worry about heavy traffic every morning.”
Nguyen graduated from UC Davis in 2012 and earned a master’s degree at San Jose State.
Nguyen said his goal is to become a full-time professor. At this time, he is only a part-time professor at SJCC and at College of San Mateo.
He said he likes the way SJCC is growing.
“The new buildings equipped with technology make instruction more effective and approachable to many students,” he said.
Nguyen’s hobbies include traveling and hiking.
Last summer, he went to Europe with friends and had a wonderful time, he said. He recommends his students visit Europe, Washington and Alaska in summer.
To Nguyen, SJCC is a marvelous place for young students to pursue higher education and transfer. SJCC provides numerous workshops and other opportunities that allow students to meet the representatives from four-year schools to which they might transfer.