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Mathematics Instruction Colloquium
Objective
The UA Mathematics Instruction Colloquium is a forum for presentations and discussions of topics related to the teaching of mathematics at all levels, from elementary/secondary to the UA's entry-level sequence and beyond. The colloquium is an open forum; the public is invited to attend. Participants and attendees have included faculty and students from the UA's mathematics, applied mathematics, and mathematics education programs, as well as teachers and administrators from the Tucson Unified School District.
In the 2009-2010 academic year, the colloquium is being organized by Ji Li and Carrie Wright.
Location and Time
The colloquium is held on Tuesdays from 4:15 - 5:15 p.m, in either Gould Simpson 849 or Mathematics 501.
To all speakers
Please send your title and abstract to Ji Li. Please do not post your abstract at the department weekly news page. Thank you for your corporation.
Schedule of Colloquia - Fall 2009
You may click the title of any talk below to view its full abstract.
- Tuesday, August 25, 2009 --- Math East 143
- Organizational Meeting: All are invited.
- Tuesday, September 8, 2009 --- Gould Simpson 849
- William McCallum, Department of Mathematics, The University of Arizona
Panel Discussion About Teaching Calculus
I am putting together a panel of people to talk about teaching calculus for the math instruction colloquium. It includes me and a retired statistician Judah Rosenblatt who wants to change calculus instruction and has written a whole bunch of materials he uses with high school students. This will be a forum similar to what we had last year, where we asked about conceptual difficulties that students have, but this one would focus more on good questions to ask students and how to find out what they are really learning.
- Tuesday, September 15, 2009 --- Gould Simpson 849
- Joseph Watkins, Department of Mathematics, The University of Arizona
Calculus Based Statistics
We shall begin this talk with two overviews. One is the perspective on quantitative education for life science students as given in Bio2010 and expressed by our local life science faculty. We will also look at traditional strategies for statistics education at US universities. This will set the stage for a discussion of the interdisciplinary opportunities for Arizona undergraduates with a focus on a new calculus based statistics course.
- Tuesday, September 22, 2009 --- Gould Simpson 849
- Frederick Stevenson, Department of Mathematics, The University of Arizona
An Exploratory Problem
An exploratory problem should challenge students at several levels. Ideally, it should be easily stated and accessible to elementary schoolers, middle schoolers, high schoolers, University math
majors, and amateur mathematicians of any age. It is meant to take a curious student anywhere from one week to one month to solve. This particular problem has extensions that have taken more than a year of work.
- Tuesday, September 29, 2009 --- Gould Simpson 849
- Linda Simonsen, Department of Mathematics, The University of Arizona
Open discussion about online learning
At the first instructing faculty meeting a few weeks ago Bill McCallum mentioned the possibility of instructional faculty getting involved in the department's initiative to develop online courses. In the Instructional Colloquium Linda Simonsen will lead an open discussion of online learning. This would be a good chance to brainstorm about this and get started thinking about what sort of involvement you would like to have. All are encouraged to come.
- Tuesday, October 6, 2009 --- Gould Simpson 849
- Andrea Young, Department of Mathematics, The University of Arizona
Improv for the mathematics instructor
Last semester I discussed tools from improv comedy that could be used in the mathematics classroom. This workshop will focus on the use of improv to improve one's teaching. We will explore the concept of "teacher as performer", and we will see how improv exercises and games can be used to enhance classroom skills. Participation will be encouraged (strongly).
- Tuesday, October 13, 2009 --- Gould Simpson 849
- Jennifer Eli, Department of Mathematics, The University of Arizona
Exploring the Web of Connections
What types of connections do prospective middle grades teachers make when engaged in tasks meant to probe their mathematical connection making? In this colloquium, the results of two tasks meant to probe mathematical connections will be presented. The first is a problem solving task requiring prospective middle grades teachers to make connections between algebra, two-dimensional, and three-dimensional geometry. The other is a card sorting task designed to provide a glimpse into how prospective middle grades teachers tend to unpack, relate, and connect a set of mathematical topics within the domain of geometry and measurement. Implications for prospective teacher preparation and instruction will be discussed.
- Tuesday, October 27, 2009 --- Gould Simpson 849
- Cheryl Ekstrom, Department of Mathematics, The University of Arizona
IT'S ALIVE!!!! The First Large-Lecture Business Math Class
The first large-lecture Business Math class is alive and has been let loose upon the university.Ê We will compare the class with the original small-lecture format, and discuss the use of experimental methods that were used to bring this creation to life, including the use of Clickers, a strong dependence upon D2L, Readiness Quizzes, and Team Quizzes using the IF-AT (scratch-off) forms.Ê We will discuss the outcomes of these methods in the current class thus far, as well as their applicability to other math classes that could potentially move to a larger format.
- Tuesday, November 3, 2009 --- Gould Simpson 849
- Tevian Dray, Department of Mathematics, Oregon State University
BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN MATHEMATICS AND THE PHYSICAL SCIENCES
As with Britain and America, mathematicians are separated from other scientists by a common language. Casual discussions with those in other disciplines suggest far more agreement than exists in fact. In a nutshell, mathematics is about functions, but science is about physical quantities. This has far-reaching implications not only for the teaching of lower-division mathematics "service" courses, but also for the training of mathematicians.
For the last decade, I have led the Vector Calculus Bridge Project, an NSF-supported effort to bridge this gap at the level of second-year calculus. The unifying theme we have discovered is to emphasize geometric reasoning, not (just) algebraic computation. As part of this project, we designed and classroom-tested curricular materials at Oregon State University, and also developed resources for mathematics faculty to help them appreciate the needs of their physical science and engineering students. These resources include a series of papers emphasizing the importance of a coherent, geometric approach to the material, group activities and an instructor's guide focused on student development of geometric reasoning, and a series of faculty development workshops. In this talk, we will illustrate the language differences between mathematicians and physicists in particular, and what this implies for the teaching of mathematics. Examples will also be drawn from a related effort to teach first-year calculus "coherently".
Further information about the Bridge Project can be found at: http://www.math.oregonstate.edu/bridge
- Tuesday, November 10, 2009 --- Gould Simpson 849
- Corinne A. Manogue, Department of Physics, Oregon State University
Envisioning Curriculum Reform
You are thinking that your courses need more pizzazz, but revitalizing your curriculum seems intimidating. How do you modernize the content while maintaining the strengths of the traditional curriculum? What "hidden curriculum" issues do you need to address to prepare your
students for the future? Can you balance the curricular needs of students bound for industry, graduate school, and other more
interdisciplinary careers?
The successful, NSF-funded Paradigms in Physics project at Oregon State University suggests answers to these questions, many of which are quick and easy to implement. Our project has involved both a rearrangement of content to better reflect the way professional physicists think about the field and also the use of a number of reform pedagogies which place responsibility for learning more firmly in the hands of the students. I will share some of our joyful experiences and hard-learned lessons.
- Tuesday, November 17, 2009 --- Gould Simpson 849
- Thomas F. Banchoff, Department of Mathematics, Brown University
Internet-Based Teaching and Learning in Calculus and Geometry
Interactive Internet-Based programs can change the way we do mathematics, the way we present it, and, most of all, the way we teach our courses. Presentation graphics make it possible to visualize and manipulate geometric objects in the plane, in three-space, and beyond. Communication programs can enable students to share their investigations with instructors and with classmates. This talk will explore programs for multivariable calculus and differential geometry and topology developed in collaboration with undergraduate students.
- Tuesday, November 24, 2009 --- Gould Simpson 849
- Jing Long Hoelscher, Department of Mathematics, The University of Arizona
Using Group-Projects in Calculus
Group-Projects are a great way to get interactions among students and it facilitates team work. I will share my group-project experience in my calculus class. In addition, I will also talk about other techniques like fun facts and math games that can be used in a calculus class. Those ideas are originally from the Project NExT Workshop I participated in.
- Tuesday, December 1, 2009 --- Gould Simpson 849
- Matthew Thomas, Department of Mathematics, The University of Arizona
Reflections on the Math Circle
The University is in its second year of hosting a math circle, and has begun a second circle. Some of the history of what we have done, some of the challenges and benefits, and some of the problems we have done in the circles will be described. I will also describe some of the features of math circle problems that have been successful, which may be useful in any level of teaching. One particular problem will be focused on.
- Tuesday, December 8, 2009 --- Gould Simpson 849
- Caroline S Torres, Department of Mathematics, The University of Arizona
Affiliations
Archive
Last updated: November 18, 2009
comments or suggestions to: Ji Li or Carrie Wright
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