Associate Professor, Mathematical Sciences
Ph.D., Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Students in Daisy McCoy’s math classes don’t come to class expecting to be given the right answers. They know that, instead, she will guide them through a process of “discovery learning,” in which they will be responsible for constructing their own learning and justifying their own answers.

“I’m convinced that this is how it works best,” she explains, adding that learning is more permanent when you come by it the hard way.

Hired originally to teach abstract algebra, Dr. McCoy spends much of her time team-teaching graduate courses to education students. She pairs up with a local elementary or secondary teachers for classes like “Geometry in K-18 Curriculum.” She describes this as an ideal instructional arrangement.

“I know the content and they know the pedagogy,” she says. “Together, we make a whole expert.”

A Georgia native, she claims she couldn’t be happier anywhere than the Northeast Kingdom, where she takes full advantage of outdoor activities and volunteers her time to a number of social action and environmental groups.

“I feel like this is where I should have been born,” she says. “I love the people and the area. Vermont is home to me now.”

Daisy.Mccoy@Lyndonstate.edu