The World Is Our Classroom

Practical math for real missions

Examples from daily military life-fueling aircraft, reading maps, or even comparing gas prices on and off base-quickly become teachable moments.

"Doesn't that take math? Isn't fueling a plane a problem of volume? Isn't it an algebra concept?" he asks his students. Once they see the connections, he adds, word problems start to feel less abstract and more like tools they already use.

"All of those are practical questions, and it made sense to them when they are turned into word problems," he said. "It gives them a tactile feel to what the math is actually doing."

For deployed students who may not have access to laptops, Sanga adjusts his teaching again. He sends assignments through instant messaging applications and administers quizzes using digital forms. These small adaptations help ensure that learning can continue anywhere in the world.

And while access matters, so does depth. Even with digital tools and the rise of AI, Sanga still encourages students to work problems out by hand whenever possible.

Working it out on paper "still makes a world of difference," he said. "It makes using your brain a little bit quicker."