Dr. Anthony Vasaturo, finding ways to improve math in the classroom

By: Jarod Davis 

New faculty member, Dr. Anthony Vasaturo, aspires to teach math in the best ways that he can. Dr. Vasaturo received his Ph.D in Pure Mathematics from the University of Toledo. His bachelors and masters were also over Pure Mathematics as well.  

Originally, Dr. Vasaturo wasn’t interested in being a professor, but during his masters and Ph.D courses, he taught one class per semester. Over time, he discovered he enjoyed teaching. Dr. Vasaturo thinks math is powerful and enjoys seeing a student’s sense of discovery when engaging in class.

“Not only do they walk out knowing something very powerful, but you might see the eyes of a few light up,” Vasaturo said, “You might see some of them get real curious, you might see some of them want to know more.”

Dr. Vasaturo is interested in how students interact in math class. He understands that math can be difficult and discouraging sometimes, but wants students to feel comfortable with failure in the classroom. The only way to improve is to practice, and he looks for ways to break down the anxiety students have over math.

“I really think that you can do more math than you can realize. It starts with alleviating this anxiety,” Vasaturo said, “Math anxiety, the fear of being wrong, the fear of failure in the classroom, math puts those things on a pedestal and we have to kindly take them off and put them back on the ground where they belong.”

In his free time, Dr. Vasaturo is a competitive grip athlete. This is called gripsport which is about grip strength, not endurance. He explained that the competitive events are comparable to powerlifting event, but focused on grip strength.  One of his specialties is hub lifting—lifting barbell weight plates off the ground, from the middle hole where usually a bar would be placed. 

Dr. Vasaturo reminds us that math can be difficult and that it can be overcome with practice and effort. He is dedicated to researching ways that he can better teach math to students in his classroom. Again, it’s important to understand that failure and trying again is how to improve at math in the first place.

“You have to not be afraid of failure, that’s mandatory,” Vasaturo said. 

If you would like to get in contact with Dr. Anthony Vasaturo you can reach him at vasaturoa@trine.edu.