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Meet Erik
Making education deeper, weirder, and visually compelling. The medium matters.
I empower students to express and develop their own ideas in words and images by learning to use AI effectively, responsibly, critically, and creatively.My background is in cognitive science and education, with a focus on creative and mathematical development. I have since spent several years teaching using the Singaporean math curriculum for grades K-8.
But the release of generative AI changed my life, and I want empower students with the knowledge to use the tools they have at their disposal.
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Michael Chambers
Founding CEO of Aldevron
Mr. Chambers was named one of the "Top 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs" by Goldman Sachs in 2018.
"Erik tutored our daughters for two years. His innovative and iterative methods ignited a foundational passion for math, showcasing his ability to inspire young minds. His launching of Magpie Publishing expands his innovative teaching methods to a broader audience. Erik's approach to integrating AI tools into education will create a more meaningful educational experience for students.”
Student Experience
Educator
ACT & SAT
7 Years
Despite being universally disliked, these tests are surprisingly predictive of long-term academic success. It pays to be prepared for them.
AP Statistics
1 Year
Increasingly important in the American educational system, statistical reasoning is in fact much more useful and powerful than algebra and calculus.
LEGO Engineering
2 Years
Geared for K-4, this course is about a month and introduces concepts in physics in a hands-on, tremendously fun, and intuitive way.
History
2 Years
Courses taught have focused on WWII for elementary, middle, and high school; history of Croatia and Greece for elementary school; and Renaissance history and art for gifted high schoolers.
Singapore Math, K-8​
3 Years
The Ministry of Eduction of Singapore has made one of the most rigorous math curriculum in the world.
Precalculus & Trig
3 Years
Allows students to integrate their understanding of geometry and link it to algebra. This hodgepodge of a course is supremely important for mastering the final skills needed for calculus.
AI Prompting
1 Year
We better start learning this with students now.
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GPT, Claude, Midjourney
Cooking
2 Years
Only in-person and purely a hobby, guide cooking classes focused on various cuisine mostly inspired by Yotam Ottolenghi.
AP Calculus
1 Year
Where students learn to integrate visuospatial and analytical reasoning in complex real-world situations.
Algebra I & II
3 Years
These courses are far more visual than is typically taught. One of the best opportunities to introduce computers to better understand problems.
Geography
3 Years
Geared for elementary and middle school students. To understand the world and history, it's important we understand where we are.
Upcoming
0 Years
Help me develop new skills by asking for new subjects I haven't taught yet!
Other Projects & Publications
2023
The Map and the Territory: Broadening Number Representation to Explore Elementary Mathematics
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Talk given at International Conference for Philosophy of Education of Children at Creighton University
Number notations like Hindu-Arabic or Roman numerals are culturally influenced technologies, shaping our understanding of numbers. Learning only the Hindu-Arabic system can lead to misconceptions, such as believing numbers have a single predecessor and successor, or that multiplication always increases and division always decreases values. These misconceptions are challenged by fractions, hence their understanding is vital for math success. The Magnitude Representation, an alternate number system, can alleviate these misunderstandings, especially regarding fraction concepts. This paper emphasizes the influence of numeral systems on number comprehension, advocating for the use of additional systems to enhance children's flexible understanding of numbers.
2022
4-σ, online statistical reasoning game
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Daily Quant Game whose purpose is to test a person's numerical understanding of science, economics, history, society, and geopolitics.
Answers are given with two numbers, an Upper Bound and a Lower Bound, such that you are 95% sure the true answer lies somewhere between the bounds you gave.
Scoring works as follows: If the upper and lower bound you submit contains the true answer, you will get more points the narrower your range. However, if the true answer is outside the bound you gave, you will get no points for that question.
2021
Creativity & Improvised Educations: Case Studies for Understanding Impact and Implications
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Book co-authored and published by Routledge
While in graduate school, I co-wrote the book Creativity and Improvised Educations: Case Studies for Understanding Impact and Implications with Dr. Michael Hanchett Hanson and a few other graduate students.
The book details six case studies of people engaged in creative work in a wide variety of fields: theater, neurological development, cooking, knitting, and two forms of political revolution. Each case study explores how real people’s distinctive points of view, senses of purpose, and ultimate contributions developed through participation in complex worlds. By looking at creativity as a distributed and participatory process, these cases deconstruct the myth of solitary creative genius, while exploring applications of complexity theory to creative work.
2020
"The scene is of the world falling apart:
It is the late spring of 1942. We are in the city of Turin in the northwest of Italy, near the border of Nazi-occupied France. Mussolini’s Blackshirts march through the streets. Every few days the anxiety and senselessness of the moment is cracked by the whine of British bombers, who have made their way from the Allied invasion of North Africa. On occasion, they fly over the city, releasing their cargo as families scramble to their basements, despite the risk of being trapped beneath the rubble of their precarious homes—the fate of so many...."
2019
Nudging to Improve Attendance at High School Equivalency Program
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Community Impact at Columbia University
Pioneered an initiative to enhance student attendance using the behavioral economics principle of "nudge." Analyzed the outcomes as part of a graduate course on the Economics of Higher Education and provided consultation to a non-profit organization focused on high school equivalency (HSE) programs to improve their attendance policies.
2018
Necessity of Science in a Liberal Arts Education
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Philosophy Honors Thesis at Creighton University
The paper "Necessity of Science in a Liberal Arts Education" presents an argument for the inclusion of science in liberal arts studies, emphasizing that science alone provides the empirical truth of our world. It underscores that while scientific discovery reveals factual realities, it is philosophy, another key component of a liberal arts education, that offers the structure for interpreting and integrating these empirical findings into a coherent worldview. By drawing a synergistic connection between science and philosophy, the paper argues that a comprehensive liberal arts education necessitates both empirical inquiry and philosophical discourse to create a well-rounded understanding of our universe.
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