Assistant professor Mayada Shahada has a plan to bring learning to everyone

Dr. Mayada Shahada loves math, and she wants everyone else to love it, too.

No matter where they live.

The assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Calgary, who taught high school in Bahrain before moving to Canada to pursue her PhD at Western University, credits her father with her love of the discipline. A math teacher himself, Shahada’s father passed down his passion for math through daily games.

“I shared a room with my brother, and my father replaced the headboards of our beds with white boards. He wrote a math problem for us to solve every morning,” she says. “I always tried to finish first.”

The game inspired some healthy competition between Shahada and her brother, but she says she wasn’t an A student until high school, when she had a teacher whose methods made her not only enjoy math, but to want to teach math.

“She wasn’t just teaching us math, she was teaching us the skills to solve problems,” Shahada says. “After that first semester, I received A's in all subjects. And I started to think, ‘I want to teach math the same way she is teaching us.’”

Helping those intimidated by university math

Her experience as a high school math teacher informs her post-secondary teaching style. Since joining UCalgary’s Department of Mathematics and Statistics in February 2024, she has worked to bridge the gap for first- and second-year students who might be intimidated by university-level math.

“I look at math as possible, enjoyable, and applicable,” Shahad says. In her view, everyone has the ability to learn math, but they should also enjoy what they’re learning and know when to apply that knowledge to solve problems.

Shahada’s passion has led her to contribute to communities halfway around the world.

“I feel that education is a right. Everyone should have access to it, no matter what the situation,” she says. “As someone originally from Palestine, the war made me think about how I could help, how I could offer support.” 

Shahada's opportunity came when a colleague approached her about joining a team of educators from around the world to help university students in Gaza continue their studies.

Supporting students' access to education

Shahada’s students come to her through An-Najah National University, but the broader program, spearheaded by UNESCO, involves universities from around the region.

Since October 2023, students have had their education interrupted. UNESCO estimates that 79 per cent of higher-education campuses have been damaged or destroyed. The program gives them an opportunity to continue their education, without cost, and still receive accreditation for their courses.

Creating coursework and exams posed a special challenge, as students are often without reliable internet access and in some cases are sharing devices. “I had to figure out how to make the videos small, so they would load in time,” Shahada says. “And, of course, you cannot teach the curriculum the same way you would if they were in a classroom.”

A WISE leadership project

Shahada’s work — and her teaching philosophy — led department head Dr. Antony Ware, PhD, to recommend her for the WISE Planet Program, a leadership training program that acts as an incubator for women in science and engineering (WISE). Shahada’s leadership project, inspired by her volunteer work with Gazan students, envisions an online-learning platform that allows students with limited access to education to attend courses remotely and receive accreditation for their work. She sees almost unlimited potential for the project, which could encompass multiple disciplines and involve multiple institutions.

“There are so many places that need a platform like this,” Shahada says. “Ukraine, Sudan, Yemen, Afghanistan.”

Ware, who looks forward to supporting Shahada’s project as it evolves, adds: “When I see a faculty member who has a passion like this, my job is to get out of the way and enable them to follow it. She’s full of ideas. This is just one of the many things she does that go above and beyond what she’s expected to do.”

Teaching partnership with new postdoc

The Faculty of Science has also welcomed postdoctoral scholar, Dr. Zainab Mawdoodi, PhD, who is from Afghanistan and runs an online program to help girls in the country continue their education. She and Shahada are slated to teach a course together in the new year. “I think there’ll be a wonderful synergy between the two,” Ware says.

As Shahada explores the possibilities for her remote learning program, she continues to help first- and second-year students make the transition from high school to university-level math — and to pass on her love of not only the subject matter, but of learning in general.