Celebrate the community as the root of mathematics at Fern Resort, Orillia from May 20 - May 22, 2026 for the Annual OCMA Conference and discover how numeracy-based educators:

• build a math culture in your classroom;
• help students strengthen the roots that support foundational knowledge;
• humanize algorithms and techniques for practical use; and
• foster a community of educational professionals in your program, department, or college.

Presentations include:

• Math history stories that spark engagement
• Student success in foundational math
• Creating a community of numeracy
• Sneaking fun into serious math
• Math assessment for humans

The first 30 OCMA members who register and send in payment will receive a $150 discount supported by colleges and sponsors.

Discounted rate for registration, meals, activities, and 2 nights accommodation:

After 30 registrations, full rate applies: $700 single / $600 double

Tutoring is often positioned as remediation or last-minute academic support—but what if it is better understood as teaching in a different pedagogical space? This professional development workshop draws on provincial data, institutional evidence, and research on tutoring interactions to examine how students actually use tutoring and what tutors are required to notice and decide in the moment. Participants will explore how productive struggle and interactional “triggers” shape learning opportunities, and how tutors’ practices parallel core tensions in classroom teaching.

Designed for faculty, learning strategists, academic support professionals, and academic administrators, the session offers research-informed insights and discussion prompts to support more coherent alignment between tutoring, teaching, and institutional approaches to student success.

Matthew Man Shing Cheung is a Mathematics Education researcher and practitioner with a Ph.D. in Mathematics Education from York University. He is currently a Math Learning Strategist at Centennial College, where he leads institutional mathematics support initiatives, designs and coordinates Success Courses, and oversees Math Drop-in Centres serving students across a wide range of programs, including Nursing, Business, Engineering Technologies, and Aviation.

Matthew’s research and professional work centre on productive struggle, tutors’ noticing, and embodied and enactivist perspectives on learning. Grounded in theoretical frameworks such as Mason’s discipline of noticing, Proulx’s theory of triggering, and Coles and Helliwell’s notion of critical events, his work advances conceptions of tutoring beyond deficit-based and purely cognitivist models toward relational, interactional, and ethical practice. He regularly designs and facilitates professional development and tutor-training workshops that integrate research, reflective inquiry, and practical application, including recent work examining the responsible and pedagogically informed use of AI in tutoring contexts. Matthew is actively engaged in provincial and cross-institutional initiatives supporting mathematics learning in higher education and disseminates his work through scholarly publications and professional presentations.

Sergio Garcia currently works full-time as a Math Advisor at the Tutoring and Learning Centre at George Brown Polytechnic. He holds a B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Mathematics from Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla and a PhD in Mathematics from York University. He occasionally serves as a contract faculty member at York University and the University of Toronto. In addition, he has taught both at College and high school institutions. Sergio’s tutoring experience spans the full educational journey, from elementary classrooms to university lecture halls. He is passionate about Math Education and, although he sometimes experiences moments of math anxiety—varying by topic and context—Sergio approaches each unfamiliar question with curiosity and a commitment to better supporting learners in their math quests.

Kent Peel

Kent has been a dedicated faculty member at Seneca Polytechnic and York University for over 23 years. He specializes in teaching law with a focus on integrating cutting-edge technology into legal education and practice. His work explores the intersection of law, machine learning, and large language models, aiming to enhance legal analysis and accessibility. Kent is passionate about leveraging technology to make legal data and processes more accessible and understandable. Kent holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Applied Science in Chemical Engineering.

Panagiotis Panagiotakopoulos

Panos is a sustainability researcher and consultant with over 15 years of experience in guiding organizations to assess and integrate sustainable practices. In his professional roles, Panos serves as a GenAI Thought Leader at Seneca Polytechnic, where he leads AI integration and innovation initiatives. He is the Co-founder and Chief Science Officer at CarbonOne, focusing on enhancing sustainability in the Canadian food and beverage sector. As the Principal Consultant at Close the Loop, he specializes in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and sustainable strategy. Panos holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Engineering and a Ph.D. in Corporate Sustainability from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland.