David Earls

Lecturer of Mathematics

My love for mathematics started as a love for computer programming. I spent hours in middle school and high school writing programs in BASIC, Pascal, and C++.

I did well in my computer courses at Brandeis, and in my junior year I became a Teaching Assistant for the intro programming course. I spent so much time working with students that were struggling, and I quickly realized that this is what I wanted to spend my career doing.
At the same time, the computer science degree required many math courses to complete. As I continued taking these courses, I realized that my love for writing code was because I loved the mathematics behind programming.

Once I finished my undergrad work, it was an easy decision to continue studying mathematics and mathematics education. I love teaching and working with students, and I am amazed at the many ways in which mathematics explains the world.
I try to instill a love and passion for mathematics in my students, and I hope that they can at the very least gain an appreciation for math and how it helps us in our everyday lives.

What I Love about Emmanuel:

In my short time so far at Emmanuel, I am impressed with how much our students want to succeed. They are also passionate about helping each other and the community at large. It is easy to teach students with a thirst for knowledge and a drive to be successful.

Ph.D. Mathematics Education, University of New Hampshire
M.S. Mathematics, Tufts University
B.A. Mathematics, B.A. Computer Science, Brandeis University

  • MATH1101: College Algebra
  • MATH1111: Calculus I
  • MATH1121: Applied Math for Management
  • Demeke, E. & Earls, D. (2018). Partitioning a Proof: An Exploratory Study on Undergraduates Comprehension of Proofs. Proceedings for the XXI Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (RUME), 581 - 588. San Diego, CA.
  • Earls, D. (2017). Second semester calculus students and the contrapositive of the nth term test. Proceedings for the XX Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (RUME), 1207 - 1213. San Diego, CA.
  • Demeke, E. & Earls, D. (2016). Mathematicians' rationale for presenting proofs: A case study of introductory abstract algebra and real analysis. Proceedings for the XIX Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (RUME), 677 - 683. Pittsburgh, PA.
  • Earls, D. & Demeke, E. (2016). Does it converge? A look at second semester calculus students' struggles determining convergence of series. Proceedings for the XIX Annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education (RUME), 704 - 710. Pittsburgh, PA. 

CONFERENCE PAPER PRESENTATIONS

  • Demeke, E., & Earls, D. (April 2016). Why do mathematicians present proofs? Paper presented at the 48th annual meeting of the New England Educational Research Organization (NEERO). Portsmouth, NH.
  • Earls, D., & Demeke, E. (April 2016). Student difficulties in second semester calculus. Paper presented at the 48th annual meeting of the New England Educational Research Organization (NEERO). Portsmouth, NH.
  • Demeke, E., & Earls, D. (January 2016). Why do mathematicians present proofs? A case study of introductory abstract algebra and real analysis courses. Paper presented at the 122nd Join Mathematics Meetings (JMM). Seattle, WA. TECHNOLOGY
  • Summer Teaching Assistant Fellowship (STAF) - Summer 2015 & Summer 2016 Competitive fellowships are awarded by the UNH Graduate School to support research or study during the summer for individuals who have held a Teaching Assistant (TA) position during the academic year, and have performed exceptionally well as a TA and as a student.
  • Co-Teaching Assistant of the Year - 2016 - 2017 Awarded to two teaching assistants by the University of New Hampshire Department of Mathematics and Statistics for outstanding performance as a teaching assistant.

My research focus is in the area of undergraduate mathematics education. Specifically, I focus on student understanding of sequences and series in second semester calculus courses as well as proof comprehension in abstract algebra and real analysis.