Cheshire Resident Unravels the Confusion of Trigonometry

Cheshire resident Kathryn Gniadek, chairman of the Math Department at Sacred Heart Academy, recently uploaded to Amazon.com the final version of a 20-level e-book series entitled Fab Five for Trigonometry. 

She developed this method more than 10 years ago as a way to foster student understanding of Trigonometry. The wellspring of her project was her eagerness to promote student comprehension of the course material, rather than subject students to memorization that is easily forgotten. 

The 20 level series, titles, and descriptions can be found on the website at www.fab5fortrig.com.

The first three levels encapsulate the Fab Five method for understanding trigonometry and are referenced in the subsequent 17 levels. Students have found that once they master the Fab Five method they never forget it. In fact, Sacred Heart alumnae have reported using the method in advanced college level math classes and successfully sharing it with their college friends. 

“The Fab Five method imbues students with a lifetime understanding of trigonometry,” expressed a 2011 alumna.

“Three years ago, I started writing the 20 level “Fab Five for Trigonometry” series for my math students, past, present, and future, and basically I have dedicated every day for the past three summers, and any spare time during the school year and on weekends, to the completion of this project," Gniadek said. "I purposely published 20 separate levels so math students need only purchase the levels necessary…for example, if a student only is having trouble solving trigonometric word problems, they need only purchase Level Seven.” 

A resident of Cheshire, Gniadek joined the faculty at Sacred Heart in 2002 and was named head of the mathematics department in 2005. She earned a BS from Fairfield University, a MS from UConn, and a CAS from Holy Apostles College and Seminary. 

She serves as the Academy’s UCONN Early College Experience (ECE) site representative and as moderator of the Mu Alpha Theta, the National Math Honor Society.

All 20 levels for Kindle are available on the Amazon website (http://www.amazon.com/Fab-Five-Trigonometry-Level-ebook/dp/B005NWQD5G/); each level can be purchased separately. 

Level descriptions are explained on the Fab Five website (www.fab5fortrig.com) for all 20 level titles and there is a direct link to Amazon.com and a link for downloading a computer application to access the ebooks on a personal computer.