Spencer Ward

Honors Associate 

Office: 106B Colvin Hall
Email: spencer.ward@maine.edu

Maine School of Science and Mathematics (2016)
B.S., Mathematics (Honors), University of Maine (2020)
M.S.T., Mathematics Teaching Research, Maine Center for Research in STEM Education (in progress)

I’m a Maine-born graduate student studying education theory under Dr. Justin Dimmel. My research centers around process-relational approaches to practical learning theory. I work to pool insights from continental & analytic philosophy, the cognitive sciences, mathematical physics (causal set theory & topos theory), comparative religious studies, and established mathematics education literature. My aim is to integrate these into imprecise, lightweight language designed for the day-to-day strains of classroom teaching. My current approach highlights sub-conceptual feelings of ‘normalcy’ and ‘weirdness’, allowing me to frame learning as an ontogenetic process of “weird stuff becoming more normal.”

I also attended the University of Maine as an undergraduate. I majored in Mathematics, with a minor in Computer Science. I completed a capstone on nonstandard analysis, focused on Alpha-theory—an axiomatic approach developed by Italian mathematicians Vieri Benci and Mauro Di Nasso. For my first three years, I worked at ASAP Media Services, where I taught & learned from other students while designing and developing websites & mobile apps. I graduated from the Honors College in 2020, submitting a creative thesis that sketched an online platform for crowdsourcing educational materials for mathematics. I cannot personally recommend it. But, for anyone interested, it’s available on the Digital Commons as “An Evolutionary Approach to Crowdsourcing Mathematics Education”.

As the temporary Honors Associate, I’m delighted to be supporting third & fourth year students as they work through the journey of planning, developing, and completing their Honors theses. Students and thesis advisors can reach me at spencer.ward@maine.edu or honors.thesis@maine.edu, or by visiting my office, 106B Colvin Hall.

A member of the Sustainable Progress and Equality Collective.