May 2024 Volume 1 Issue 4
Table of Contents
Abstract?
A proper APA paper begins with an Abstract. With this introductory section, we’ll outline the paper’s questions, research, and results. So how do we summarize the many years of an invigorated adventurer of education? Michael Rugh hails from Kingwood, Texas, where he fostered many talents. His academic pursuits granted him a BS in Mathematics, an MS in Mathematics (Teaching Track), and a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction (Math Education). Dr. Rugh now serves as the Associate Research Scientist at the LIVE Lab, an associate of Aggie STEM, and Director of STEM Education Research for the Aggie Research Programs. For the LIVE Lab, he oversees every single research project. These deal with research questions, study design, data collection, analysis, and write-up. This means he’s often in charge of overseeing 12 projects at any given time! Though still in the beginning of his career, Dr. Rugh has already produced over 25 published research papers and presentations. He’s taught undergraduate students integrated mathematics, elementary math methods, and problem-solving. Grader, tutor, teacher, peer-reviewer, editor, and professor are all titles he’s held with pride. Dr. Rugh is an inconceivably driven, productive leader who strives to maximize the potential of his students and colleagues.??
Literature Review?
Let’s outline the current scope of our research through Dr. Rugh’s youth. He comes from Kingwood, Texas but recommended simplifying it to “Houston” for readability. Always thinking of the clients! According to Dr. Rugh himself, this upbringing brought no complaints. “I had a good childhood,” he said. “I had a lot of support from family and friends.”??
The surrounding support encouraged some social exploration. Dr. Rugh’s parents encouraged him to participate in hobbies ranging from gymnastics to drawing. He tried out swimming and chess in elementary school, then band and football in high school. Band, in particular, stood out. “I was in band for a long time!” Dr. Rugh spoke of music with grand appreciation. He picked up the French horn and eventually landed himself into his school’s theatre production orchestra. “We played for Peter Pan, and we did really good,” he said. There’s a lot more to Dr. Rugh’s musical endeavors, but we’ll save that for later.??
High school was also the time when Dr. Rugh approached his very first research question, and it related to his own life. It was clear that he had a love for STEM. Digging deeper, mathematics seemed to stand out the most. After all, Dr. Rugh was good at this stuff. Better yet, he found it fascinating and beautiful. There was still more to dive into with this question that rang in his head. “What do I really love to do?”????
Methodology 1?
Horns, strings, and melodies echo out. Young Rugh, a senior-year high schooler, has now tapped into every hobby imaginable. He finds himself in a series of retries, particularly in musical endeavors. Rugh tries the piano once more, and this time he flies.???
The second Rugh reaches A&M soil, he makes a run to the university’s jazz band. According to the man himself, they played some great stuff in his time. Sooner than later, instead of playing with university peers, he found himself doing solo gigs. He played at community First Fridays, restaurants, farmer markets, and essentially any public space that’d have him. “Music is extremely important to me,” Dr. Rugh explained. “It’s always brought a tremendous amount of joy.” Thanks to his ventures, Dr. Rugh has picked up over 20 instruments, including the French horn, piano, and ukelele.???
“My favorite thing is to have people sing karaoke.” Dr. Rugh loves it when artists come together. Sometimes when he begins to play piano, others will join him. Be it their voices, their violins, or their guitars. You’ve likely seen happenings like this online, via TikTok or Instagram. Dr. Rugh briefly spoke on this, detailing how thrilled he is to see it getting the attention of a wider audience. It was evident to me that he enjoyed the team coordination aspects of it all: a trait carried over into his research process. What Dr. Rugh enjoys about playing music is the opportunity to foster memories.???
There are two aspects of musical performance that stand out to Rugh: culture and structure. “The beauty of music is through others,” he told me. “It’s through society.” In his mind, there is no meaning behind progressions and chords if there are no people to emotionally evoke and digest them. It is a learned pleasure meant to be shared with others. With the aspect of structure, Dr. Rugh explains how the laws of music provide the perfect toolset to express what you want to express. It serves as a precise emotional outlet. “Hard day? Play something heavy and loud. Reflective? Stay quiet and sit in the sadness.”???
Methodology 2?
Let’s rewind back to high school graduation. Our younger Rugh was immediately admitted to Texas A&M University. The first degree he completed was a BS in Mathematics. These studies allowed Dr. Rugh to investigate himself as his own subject, research question in mind. The major coursework reinforced his love for math itself, sure, but there was more. Further investigation through education was needed.??
This education continued through 2015 amongst his fellow cohort members in the Mathematics master’s degree program. Results were unraveling. While he wasn’t sure yet what it was about this branch that interested him, he found purpose as he pursued the program’s Teaching Track. With the program came job obligations, and fortunately these, too, fell within the realm of teaching. Rugh worked as a math grader for his first year in grad school, aiming to help fund the program and gain insight to this facet of education.???
领英推荐
A master’s was earned after six years of intensive studies, but where to now? Rugh started off as an SAT tutor, giving him his first one-on-one experiences teaching high schoolers. While this served as a primary occupation for two years, Dr. Rugh also picked up research and substitute work. His research assistant position brought him back to Texas A&M under the Teaching, Learning, and Culture (TLAC) Department. This sector aims to nurture future educators through research areas focused on educational achievement, culture and curriculum, English as a secondary language, math, sciences, reading, technology, and urban education. For the sub work, Dr. Rugh was employed under CSISD. He served his role for a year, gaining more in-field experience and developing his skills as an educator.???
Following these work opportunities, Dr. Rugh returned to school as a student one last time. He pursued a PhD in Curriculum and Instruction (Math Education) through A&M’s College of Education and Human Development. It’s clear that the answer to Dr. Rugh’s research question was gaining structure. One thing he noticed was that he really loved to introduce the power and beauty of mathematics to students. “I got into it because I wanted to share that beauty with other people,” he told me. “It’s as pure as any science can be. It builds on foundational axioms and logical principles, evolving into the complex, structured, and interrelated fields of study we engage with today.” Math, especially at higher levels, is the go-to scapegoat for academic disinterest in students. It’s often seen as too complicated, difficult, or inapplicable to daily realities. Despite this, Dr. Rugh worked to foster environments free of these stigmas. He gained the belief that almost everyone can learn and excel in mathematics when given the right opportunities. Thanks to this virtue, four years of research and graduate studies whizzed by.?A final graduation in 2021 reeled in.??
?
Results?
The PhD that now laid in Dr. Rugh’s palm unlocked a trove of opportunities. The Graduate Student Association of the TLAC had Dr. Rugh as treasurer throughout his time in education, and they welcomed him as Vice President upon graduation. He still holds this position to this day! He talked grandly about the COVID-19 research his program conducted, which involved comparing the financial stress within grad students who attended school before, during, or after COVID-19 hit. This was only a peak in his overarching scope of research products.??
Dr. Rugh has done plenty of review work for journals and conferences. “I like how it protects the body of knowledge,” he said. He appreciates the rigorous process that assures well-expressed research. What he doesn’t appreciate, however, is the time that could be taken away from the lives of his colleagues. One cannot conceive the amount of review requests that go into the average journal. This number can overwhelm the limited number of reviewers per team. “I feel like I’m helping to relieve my friends’ burdens. It’s a tremendous up taking! And reviewer time is a precious commodity.” Nevertheless, Dr. Rugh ultimately sees this position as a service. Not only does he see it as aiding his friends, but also as aiding in the writing/design process of upcoming researchers. “I’m here to help you enter even if this isn’t the right time or project.” That is his message to the many researchers whose papers he reads through.??
In just seven years, including his time in the doctoral program, Dr. Rugh has harnessed and juggled six separate research positions, yet none have felt more impactful than his seventh spot at the LIVE Lab. “The LIVE Lab was so unique and interesting for what I wanted to do,” he confessed. “There was nothing better!” A fair claim to make. The position of Associate Research Scientist here tied in with his background and gave him a position to provide academic resources to up-and-coming researchers under his wing. Thanks to Dr. Rugh’s personalized guidance and leadership, undergraduate students from virtually every discipline have produced publications about LIVE Lab products and game-based learning. Just recently, a team of his researched for and developed an entire database dedicated to educational video games for higher education environments.???
Discussion?
It’s more than evident that there is a common theme within Dr. Rugh’s life: love. “What do I really love to do” could simply be answered by math, teaching, leading, or music. A deeper answer would be love itself. Dr. Rugh talks openly about how he sees his position at the LIVE Lab as a service to students. He wants nothing more than to get his students where they want to be in life. These aren’t just claims, either. Every step of every process incorporates the needs of his students after taking the time to get to know them. He enjoys leading small groups that work towards individual goals, sculpting research teams around this very philosophy. As he said himself, “I’m motivated to help others maximize potentials and achieve goals.”??
We continued discussing his thinking and virtues. “Learning is infinite,” Dr. Rugh began. “It’s an eternal process. We’re here to learn how to learn and how to grow so that we may keep growing forever.” He’s speaking of humanity as a whole, of course. “It’s part of our ‘purpose.’ Individually and as a civilization.” This conversation circled back to mathematics. Dr. Rugh told me about this mathematician who coined the term “The Book.” Essentially, if a proof appeared perfect to the mathematician, he’d state that it belonged in The Book. The Book is a hypothetical Bible for math itself: a book of perfections and ultimatums that define all factors of the known universe. “Math is about structure and beauty. It’s as pure as any science can be.” I followed Dr. Rugh as best I could. His thinking had elevated! “Things can be known with absolute certainty. Application brings uncertainty to the determined reality.” Absolutely mind-blowing statements. Dr. Rugh loves to learn math, to teach math, to facilitate human bonds, to achieve perfected potentials, and to play the piano. That’s a stupendous leader to run the research division of this aspirational lab.???
?
Employee of the Month - Westley Yon
Congratulations Westley Yon on achieving Employee of the Month! A recent graduate of the Texas A&M Visualization program, Westley comes from McKinney, Texas. They spent a lot of time doing art in a comfortable home filled with Aggies. The LIVE Lab welcomed Westley in August of 2023, and since then, they’ve contributed a lot! All of this helps in their goal of becoming a better and faster artist, learning new skills at every chance. Westley is particularly interested in character design. This is due to growing up on movies with expressive actors and a drive to create their own emotional impact. A favorite project of Westley’s is our most recent which uses stylized art that allows them to create vibrant characters. It allows them to work the very job they’ve dreamed of!?
Read the Magazine Version Here