Manassas Math Prof. Creates Doctrina, Math Supplements via YouTube

Matthew Westerhoff, associate professor of math at the Manassas Campus, is working on a new project called Doctrina (his YouTube channel). Doctrina is a Latin word that translates to “learning” and that is the ultimate purpose of this channel. The overall goal in this project is to provide supplementary math videos in various mathematical subjects. The videos are categorized by playlists where each is a subject in math (e.g. algebra, calculus, etc.). Westerhoff strives to make the videos as detailed as possible because, as a math educator, he understands that students may have questions setting up the problem or in simplifying an algebraic expression.

“These videos are meant to be used as supplementary resources and not as a replacement for a teacher or traditional course,” Westerhoff said. “I don’t believe any set of videos can replace the learning experience of an actual teacher. I always remind my students that to learn math you need to practice, and that math is a cumulative subject that builds on previous topics.”

The videos can be incorporated into any class setting, whether engineering or math; and there is an option of closed captioning on every video.

Each video has a Creative Commons license that gives a teacher or user permission to share the video. As of now, Westerhoff has created 56 videos in Linear Algebra, 116 in Calculus 1, 85 in Calculus II and 22 in Calculus III. This is a work in progress, and he will be continuously adding videos.

Westerhoff currently teaches mathematics (ranging from developmental math through differential equations) at NOVA’s Manassas Campus. He serves as the advisor for the STEAM student club, and he currently is serving as vice president of VMATYC (Northern Virginia Region). His research interests include electromagnetism and numerical methods.

View, use and share videos from Doctrina Here.