What's Their Secret

By Brittney Xu     9/7/11 7:00pm

Ask a student in Steven Cox's class what they discussed in CAAM class, and you could end up with some interesting answers. Frequently described as one of the best and most knowledgeable faculty members, Cox is known for using clever analogies, jokes and unconventional tactics to help his students program, and is widely known throughout campus for his challenging classes that foster independent thinking.

Cox studied engineering as an undergraduate, but it was not until he went to work for a company that he discovered his true calling.

"I found myself tutoring the old guys in the math that they had forgotten," Cox said. "And they told me they never understood it before I taught it to them. It dawned on me then that maybe I could teach. So that's when I decided to go back to school for a Ph. D."

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Two influential professors from his college days (in the fields of philosophy and French studies) molded the way Cox approaches teaching. From these two professors, Cox said that he learned that it's possible to engage every single member of the audience.

"These professors succeeded in challenging each person in the audience to be part of the discussion," Cox explained.

Cox still implements these strategies to make his classes more interesting and varied. "I try different things everyday," Cox says. "I try to penetrate the audience physically --- get them to move tables around, go up aisles and down side-rows."

Faced with the challenge of teaching classes with more than 100 students, Cox added:  "I also try to disrupt their thinking. I try to introduce puns and mathematical jokes to get students to pay attention."

After a master's in electrical engineering, Cox completed a Ph. D in mathematics, which he describes as a beautiful, gorgeous pursuit that is rich in history and philosophy. He eventually drifted into neuroscience and is now on the faculty of neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine. He enjoys the fact that he crossed academic fields and boundaries.

"The brain is a fantastic way to get people curious about mathematics," he noted. "And for them to pursue harder questions about thought, objectivity, how the brain computes. whether the brain computes, how many brains there are? There are lots of philosophical questions that require mathematical rigor."

The concept of crossing fields and keeping an open mind is something Cox finds refreshing about Rice students, most of whom do not come in with a set idea of their major. He added that it's healthy to move around between pure and applied and social sciences.

In fact, this diversity drives the wealth of examples that Cox brings up in class, and helps him invent creative problems that are not so dry and pat.

"I want to make the theory real in a way that people care about," Cox said. "Students typically want to know why my class is required. What's the value for me?' So I try to give them a variety of examples that will be useful."

Ultimately, Cox strives to help students learn how to think and provoke their knowledge in original ways. If his teaching prowess among Rice students is any indication, he has done exactly that.

"What's Their Secret" is a weekly feature that highlights a faculty member who has had a significant impact on Rice students.

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