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Teachers are the Difference: Melissa Khoo

By Marika Lee.

Melissa Khoo
Upper School Math Teacher

In order for students to understand real life applications of mathematical principles, Upper School math teacher Melissa Khoo uses a variety of techniques for students to harness their potential.

“A lot of students haven’t seen or understood math in real life. They expect math to be beautiful and always result in beautifully solved answers. But, in real life, there’s always variation in data analysis. There’s never going to be a constant exact, and even in machinery there are fluctuations. My passion is to teach them that if there are rules, there must be a reason. If they’ve hit a roadblock when solving a problem, they can refer back to their foundational math skills and work their way to finding a potential solution,” Khoo said.

Khoo’s favorite way of showcasing the unexpected side of math is through a parking lot problem.

“I tell students to imagine they’re traveling with friends over spring break and they need to use the airport’s car park. They take their car and park it in CVG’s economy parking lot for seven and a half days to account for potential delays. They research how much it would cost, and graph it from the first to the last day and discover it’s not a completely straight diagonal line. There’s a curve, and then we discuss how that happens,” Khoo said.

The key to approaching math is developing perseverance and a never give up attitude, according to Khoo.

“I encourage students to keep trying different things, and have faith in themselves. I say it doesn’t matter how anyone else views you, so long as you feel good about the effort you’ve exerted. Math doesn’t have to be your passion. But it’s the process of working through problems in a subject that may not be your passion that defines you. You may not remember a specific problem you solved, but you’ll remember the critical thinking skills you applied and mastered. It’s about the process, and that’s the most important part of my class. It’s not about the end result, it’s about building foundational skills,” Khoo said.