Minicourses are open only to persons who register for
the Joint Meetings and pay the Joint Meetings Registration
fee in addition to the appropriate minicourse fee. The
MAA reserves the right to cancel any minicourse that
is undersubscribed.
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OUT Minicourse #1: Visual linear algebra,
organized by Eugene A. Herman, Grinnell College;
Michael D. Pepe, Seattle Central Community College;
and Eric P. Schulz, Walla Walla Community College;
Part A: Wednesday, 9:00 a.m.11:00 a.m. and Part
B: Friday, 9:00 a.m.11:00 a.m. This minicourse
will introduce participants to a new, visual approach
to teaching linear algebra. The primary objective is
to create a dynamic learning environment in which students
are actively engaged in learning the central concepts
of linear algebra. Course materials stress the development
of visualization skills to acquire strong geometric
intuition. The materials, taken as a whole, provide
everything needed to teach a comprehensive first course
in linear algebra. Versions of the materials have been
developed for use with Maple and Mathematica. Participants
will have the option of working with the materials on
either of these platforms. Cost is $95; enrollment limit
is 30.
Minicourse #2: Teaching
a Galois theory for undergraduates, organized by
John R. Swallow, Davidson College; Part A: Wednesday,
2:15 p.m.4:15 p.m. and Part B: Friday, 1:00 p.m.3:00
p.m. Participants explore Galois theory from an undergraduate
perspective, gaining materials and technological tools
for use teaching an undergraduate course. The course
outlines the theory from a concrete, computational point
of view, assuming only one semester of abstract algebra.
The course also introduces AlgFields: a package for
use with Maple or Mathematica, facilitating computation
in number fields. Participants study examples, solve
exercises, and pose new problems, all built around the
concept of an algebraic number with complex approximation.
Only basic facility with one of the symbolic computation
systems is necessary. Handouts and web links to the
freely available package will be distributed. Cost is
$95; enrollment limit is 30.
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Minicourse #3:
Creating interactive workbooks using MS Excel, organized
by Sarah L. Mabrouk, Framingham State College;
Part A: Wednesday, 4:30 p.m.6:30 p.m. and Part
B: Friday, 3:15 p.m.5:15 p.m. Using the control
toolbox, one can create interactive workbooks containing
scroll bars, buttons, and graphs that can be used for
course demonstrations and for course assignments/projects,
as well as workbooks that allow students to explore
concepts. Creating interactive workbooks using MS Excel
requires only basic knowledge of graph and data creation,
and students need only MS Excel to use these workbooks;
no specialized knowledge is needed to create them, and
the Internet is not required in order to use them. Participants
will create interactive workbooks containing graph and
data components. Sample topics include analysis of spring-mass
system and numerical integration. Cost is $95; enrollment
limit is 30.
SOLD
OUTMinicourse #4: Java applets in teaching
mathematics, organized by Joe Yanik, Emporia
State University, and David M. Strong, Pepperdine
University; Part A: Thursday, 8:00 a.m.10:00 a.m.
and Part B: Saturday, 9:00 a.m.11:00 a.m. This
minicourse will introduce the participants to the Java
programming language and its use in creating mathematical
activities. No previous experience in Java programming
will be assumed. Through the use of a Visual Development
Environment and a MathToolkit that was developed with
the support of an NSF grant, this hands-on workshop
will lead the participants through the creation of some
sample applets and introduce them to the MathToolkit.
In addition, they will be provided with a more complete
tutorial that they can take home that will teach them
the Java programming language and its use in creating
mathematical applets. Cost is $95; enrollment limit
is 30.
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Minicourse #5: Hands-on
discrete mathematics with technology, organized
by Douglas E. Ensley, and Katherine G. McGivney,
Shippensburg University; Part A: Thursday, 10:15 a.m.12:15
p.m. and Part B: Saturday, 1:00 p.m.3:00 p.m.
Discrete math is a course that primarily serves students
studying math and computer science. This minicourse
will focus on three major areas of discrete math (sets/relations/graphs,
combinatorics/probability, and writing mathematical
proofs) that are common to most discrete math courses
and on how computer technology can be used to make these
courses more student centered. We will use Maple for
the first day and predesigned Flash movies for the second
day, and in each case we will spend some time on special
features of the software and some time on design issues
for effective classroom use. The minicourse participants
will come away with new ideas and customized material
for their own discrete math courses. Some familiarity
with Maple syntax is expected, but no experience with
Flash will be assumed. Cost is $95; enrollment limit
is 30.
Minicourse #6: WeBWorK,
an Internet-based system for generating and delivering
homework problems to students, organized by Arnold
K. Pizer, Michael E. Gage, and Vicki Roth,
University of Rochester; Part A: Thursday, 1:00 p.m.3:00
p.m. and Part B: Saturday, 3:15 p.m.5:15 p.m.
This minicourse introduces participants to WeBWorK,
a freely available system for checking and grading homework
problems. WeBWorK won the 1999 ICTCM Award for Excellence
and Innovation with the Use of Technology in Collegiate
Mathematics. Supported by grants from NSF, WeBWorK has
already been adopted by a large number of colleges and
universities. WeBWorK can handle most homework problems
found in a typical calculus text and is distributed
with an extensive library of over 4,000 problems covering
college algebra and trigonometry, precalculus, single
and multivariable calculus, differential equations,
linear algebra, statistics, and probability. There is
also a larger national library of problems. It's easy
to modify current WeBWorK problems or to write new ones.
Participants will actively participate in using WeBWorK
and writing WeBWorK problems. Readers can learn more
about WeBWorK by connecting to http://www.math.rochester.edu/webwork.
Cost is $95; enrollment limit is 30.
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Minicourse #7: Developing
your department's assessment plan, organized by
William A. Marion, Valparaiso University; and
Bonnie Gold, Monmouth University; Part A: Wednesday,
9:00 a.m.11:00 a.m. and Part B: Friday, 9:00 a.m.11:00
a.m. Most universities and, thus, individual departments
are under pressure from accrediting agencies to develop
and implement assessment plans to assess student learning.
During the minicourse, pairs (or larger groups) of members
of a mathematical sciences department will develop in
workshop format, a proposed departmental mission statement
and the skeleton of its individualized assessment plan.
Sample assessment programs (developed by teams of mathematics
faculty under the auspices of the MAA's NSF-funded assessment
project, Supporting Assessment in Undergraduate Mathematics)
will be discussed and participants will share ideas
with groups from similar departments to develop their
own programs. Cost is $60; enrollment limit is 50.
Minicourse #8: Mathematical
finance, organized by Walter R. Stromquist,
Bryn Mawr College; Part A: Wednesday, 2:15 p.m.4:15
p.m. and Part B: Friday, 1:00 p.m.3:00 p.m. We
will begin by introducing the "standard model" for stock
prices, geometric Brownian motion, and we will examine
market price statistics to test the validity of this
model. We will then cover two main ideas of modern finance:
portfolio optimization and option valuation. Portfolio
optimization means allocating a fixed investment fund
among various risky assets; we will see how this is
turned into a quadratic programming problem and how
it leads to the capital asset pricing model. Option
valuation includes the well-known Black-Scholes formula,
which we will cover thoroughly. The presenter will draw
on practical examples from his consulting work and from
his financial mathematics class at Bryn Mawr College.
Cost is $60; enrollment limit is 50.
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Minicourse #9: Infusing
connections into core courses for future secondary teachers,
organized by Steve R. Benson and Al Cuoco,
Education Development Center; Karen J. Graham,
University of New Hampshire; and Neil Portnoy,
Stony Brook University; Part A: Wednesday, 4:30 p.m.6:30
p.m. and Part B: Friday, 3:15 p.m.5:15 p.m. National
recommendations call for content courses for prospective
teachers that make explicit connections between the
mathematics that teachers learn and the mathematics
that they will use as teachers. Most content courses
for preservice secondary teachers are core courses for
the mathematics major, and texts for these courses do
not typically address these connections. Minicourse
participants will work with materials that contain the
mathematical rigor of an upper division course and help
prospective teachers build connections to secondary
mathematics, discuss implementation issues with colleagues
who have used such materials, and begin to adapt these
materials for the courses they teach. Cost is $60; enrollment
limit is 50.
Minicourse #10: Bridging
the gap between mathematics and the physical sciences,
organized by Tevian Dray, Oregon State University;
Part A: Thursday, 9:00 a.m.11:00 a.m. and Part
B: Saturday, 9:00 a.m.11:00 a.m. There is a surprisingly
large gap between the way mathematicians on the one
hand, and physical scientists and engineers on the other,
do mathematics. The key to bridging this gap between
mathematics and the physical sciences is geometric reasoning.
This minicourse will introduce participants to the art
of teaching geometric reasoning, emphasizing, but not
limited to, vectors and vector calculus. Participants
will use and discuss open-ended group activities intended
to foster geometric reasoning, which have been developed
as part of the NSF-funded Vector Calculus Bridge Project
at Oregon State University. These materials have been
used successfully by several instructors at a variety
of institutions. More information on this project is
available online at http://www.math.oregonstate.edu/bridge.
Cost is $60; enrollment limit is 40.
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Minicourse #11: Fair
enough? Mathematics of equity, organized by John
C. Maceli and Stanley E. Seltzer, Ithaca
College; Part A: Thursday, 1:00 p.m.3:00 p.m.
and Part B: Saturday, 1:00 p.m.3:00 p.m. Topics
of fairness make terrific subject matter for contemporary
mathematics courses. This minicourse introduces some
fairness topics--apportionment, voting power, elections,
fair allocation and equity, the census--with the goals
of helping participants learn about these topics, see
and use activities that support a course in fairness,
and prepare to teach such a course. We will provide
sample activities, projects, and a list of resources,
including original papers accessible to undergraduates.
Active participation is expected. Cost is $60; enrollment
limit is 50.
Minicourse #12: Getting
students involved in undergraduate research, organized
by Aparna W. Higgins, University of Dayton; and
Joseph A. Gallian, University of Minnesota, Duluth;
Part A: Wednesday, 9:00 a.m.11:00 a.m. and Part
B: Friday, 9:00 a.m.11:00 a.m. This course will
cover many aspects of facilitating research by undergraduates,
such as finding appropriate problems, deciding how much
help to provide, and presenting and publishing the results.
Examples will be presented of research in summer programs
and research that can be conducted during the academic
year. Although the examples used will be primarily in
the area of discrete mathematics, the strategies discussed
can be applied to any area of mathematics. Cost is $60;
enrollment limit is 50.
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Minicourse #13: Origami
in undergraduate mathematics courses, organized
by Thomas C. Hull, Merrimack College; Part A:
Wednesday, 2:15 p.m.4:15 p.m. and Part B: Saturday,
1:00 p.m.3:00 p.m. Those who have studied origami
may have unfolded their creations and marveled at the
pattern of creases in the paper that result. Lovely
mathematics lurks behind these creases, from geometry,
combinatorics, and algebra. This material is easily
understood by undergraduate majors, leads to numerous
open questions, and offers a great opportunity for hands-on,
discovery-based learning. This workshop will offer participants
hands-on experience with the main areas of "origami-math"
(modular origami, geometric constructions, and combinatorial
modeling) to incorporate into their own classes. Experience
either in paper folding or in teaching geometry, algebra,
or combinatorics would be useful. Cost is $70; enrollment
limit is 30.
Minicourse #14: Euler,
organized by William W. Dunham, Muhlenberg College,
and Edward C. Sandifer, Western Connecticut State
University; Part A: Wednesday, 4:30 p.m.6:30 p.m.
and Part B: Friday, 3:15 p.m.5:15 p.m. Euler wrote
and published over 850 books and papers. They form the
basis for huge segments of modern mathematics. We will
survey his many contributions and take a close look
at a few of them. We will demonstrate how to use Euler's
eighteenth-century mathematics in a twenty-first-century
environment, and we will show by example why Laplace
was giving good advice when he said, "Read Euler, read
Euler. He is the master of us all." Cost is $60; enrollment
limit is 50.
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Minicourse #15: ConcepTests
and Peer Instruction: Active learning in the calculus
classroom, organized by Deborah Hughes Hallett
and David O. Lomen, University of Arizona; and
Maria Robinson, Seattle University; Part A: Thursday,
9:00 a.m.11:00 a.m. and Part B: Saturday, 9:00
a.m.11:00 a.m. ConcepTests and Peer Instruction--powerful
tools for improving student learning--were originally
developed by Eric Mazur at Harvard to teach introductory
physics and are now used in biology and astronomy. ConcepTests
have now been written for calculus, in which they have
shown the same impressive results as in the sciences.
Starting with an overview of the use and effectiveness
of ConcepTests, this workshop will give participants
hands-on experience with their use in mathematics classrooms.
Cost is $60; enrollment limit is 50.
Minicourse #16: Music
and mathematics, organized by Leon Harkleroad,
Wilton, ME; Part A: Thursday,1:00 p.m.3:00 p.m.
and Part B: Friday, 1:00 p.m.3:00 p.m. Over the
years people have used mathematics in various ways to
describe, analyze, and create music. This minicourse
will explore the applications of mathematical areas
such as number theory, probability, and group theory
to musical topics such as tuning systems, bell ringing,
and twentieth-century compositional technique. Emphasis
will be placed on how minicourse participants can incorporate
this material into their classes or even design a service
course on music and mathematics. Cost is $60; enrollment
limit is 50.
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