MATHEMATICS 450A:  Seminar -- Spring 2011

 

MODERATOR:  Dr. Christopher Swanson                   Office Phone:  419-289-5264           Office:  Patterson 209 & Clayton 103

                                E-mail:  cswanson@ashland.edu     Home Phone:  See first day handout

                                Web Page:  http://personal.ashland.edu/~cswanson/                  Fax:  419-289-5791

 

OFFICE HOURS:              Mon. 3-4(Clayton), 4-5 (Clayton); Tues. 3-4 (Patterson);  Wed. 11-12 (Clayton), 2-3 (Patterson);

                                                Thurs. 11-12 (Clayton); Fri. 9-10 (Clayton)

                                                OR by appointment OR almost any other time I am in my office.

 

CLASSES:            Tuesday  4:30 p.m.-5:20 p.m. in Jacobs 120

 

TALK:  Each student will select a topic from mathematics to investigate more deeply than covered in the regular course of study.  The level must be appropriate for junior/senior mathematics majors.  It may be based on a journal article or independent research.  Following tradition for the Spring semester, you have two options for the type of talk that you give:

                Option 1 – Conference talk at Spring Meeting of Ohio Section of the MAA 

                The Spring Meeting of the Ohio Section of the MAA will be held March 25-26 at Youngstown State University.  A talk at this conference should be between 12 and 15 minutes in length (not including questions from the audience).  A student selecting this option must apply for a Student Research and Presentation Grant from the Office of the Provost.  Evaluation of the talk under this option will be as follows:

                                Approval of talk topic and source by Dr. Swanson (10 points):  Two weeks prior to talk.

                                Grant Application (10 points):  Points do no depend upon approval of grant.

                Content (25 points):  appropriate level, completeness;

Originality (15 points):  Simply regurgitating the results of a journal article without adding details or doing some original investigation will result in a score of 0 points.

Length (20 points):  10 points for length in class and 10 points for length at conference; a talk of length 10-12 minutes or 15-16 minutes will receive 5 of 10 points, a talk less than 10 minutes or greater than 16 minutes will receive 0 of 10 points;

Organization (10 points):  includes appropriate use of visuals; 5 points for organization in class and 5 points for organization at conference;

Presentation (20 points):  enthusiasm, eye contact with audience, clarity, ability to address questions from audience; 10 points for presentation in class and 10 points for presentation at conference;

                Option 2 – In-class talk

                A talk given in class that is not to be given at the conference should be between 35 and 45 minutes in length (not including questions from the audience).  Students are encouraged to stimulate audience interest through opportunities for participation.  Evaluation of the talk under this option will be as follows:

                                Approval of talk topic and source by Dr. Swanson (10 points):  Two weeks prior to talk.

                Audience involvement (10 points):  selection of appropriate activities for the audience

Content (25 points):  appropriate level, completeness;

Originality (15 points):  Simply regurgitating the results of a journal article without adding details or doing some original investigation will result in a score of 0 points.

Length (20 points):  a talk of length 25-35 minutes or over 45 minutes will receive 10 points, a talk less than 25 minutes will receive 0 points;

Organization (10 points):  includes appropriate use of visuals;

Presentation (20 points):  enthusiasm, eye contact with audience, clarity, ability to address questions from audience;

 

ABSTRACT AND SOURCE OF THE TALK:  Each student should submit an abstract of their talk and a copy of the source article(s) at least 8 days prior to the talk so that copies of the abstract may be distributed at the beginning of the seminar the week before his/her talk.  The abstract should include the title, topic, source, and a brief description of the talk. (10 points)

 

PAPER ON THE TALK:  At most two weeks after the talk, the student must submit a 3-5 page well-written paper on the same topic as the talk.  The paper should be double spaced with one inch margins and typed in 12-point Times New Roman font.  It is not expected that the paper will be identical to the talk, but it should be related. The format used for references and the bibliography should be similar to the format used in a source article.   The paper must be in your own words.  (40 points)

 

ATTENDANCE AND PARTICIPATION:  Students are expected to attend and participate in every class.  Participation includes involvement in activities, asking questions, and making comments at student talks.  (25 points)

 

PRESENTATION OF SOLUTION TO JOURNAL PROBLEM:  Each student will do one 5-minute presentation on a problem that he/she finds interesting in a mathematical journal.  The solutions to these problems are typically in the journal, and the student’s goal for each problem is to completely understand the solution and explain the problem and solution in a way that a majority of students in the class will understand the solution.  The problem and presentation must be at an appropriate level for a junior/senior mathematics major – a student presenting a problem that could easily be solved by a high school student without calculus will receive at most 10 points.  These presentations will begin January 20th.  Additionally, any student who is able to solve a “significant” problem posed in a mathematical journal and who submits his/her solution to the journal for publication considerations will be given 10 bonus points.  (20 points)

 

READING AND SUMMARIZING ARTICLES:  Each student will select one article from three different journals.  After reading each article, the student will write a one-page summary which includes bibliographic information, a description of the topic, the intended audience of the article, and some interesting points from the article.  A copy of the article must be attached to your summary.  The purpose of this assignment is to increase your awareness of mathematical journals as well as help you in your quest for a talk topic.  This assignment is due at the beginning of class on January 27th.  (45 points; 15 points each)

 

RESOURCES:  The following journals available in the AU library (L), the mathematics lounge (M), or Dr. Swanson(S) are suggested sources for the talk and for the article summary exercise.  The number of *’s by the name of the journal represents Dr. Swanson’s belief of how likely that journal is to contain an article appropriate for the talk.  Those marked with P contains problems which you may present.

 

                Math Horizons **** MS   P                                             The Mathematical Intelligencer **** M      

                College Mathematics Journal **** L  P                       The Pi Mu Epsilon Journal **** MS P

                Mathematics Magazine *** LMS  P                               Quantum *** LM  P

                The Mathematical Gazette***M P                                  Journal of Recreational Mathematics*** M P

                Mathematics and Computer Education *** LM          American Mathematical Monthly ** LMS  P

                UMAP Journal ** L                                                           Mathematics Teacher ** L  P                                          

                Mathematics Teaching in the Middle School * L  P    School Science and Mathematics * L  P

                Teaching Children Mathematics * L                              http://www.ams.org/mathscinet/ (search engine)         

 

Dr. Swanson’s web page contains links to web sites that may be helpful in searching for a topic for the talk or in finding supplementary material for the talk.

 

GRADING:          Talk                        110 points                             Attendance/Participation   25 points

                                Abstract                   10 points                             Problem Presentation          20 points

                                Talk Paper              40 points                             Reading/Summary              45 points

 

The chart below lists the lowest grade that a student would possibly receive if his/her scaled course points fall in the corresponding ranges.

 

Scaled course points           Grade                     Scaled course points           Grade

232 to 250                               A                          182 to 191                               C

225 to 231                               A-                         175 to 181                               C-

217 to 224                               B+                        167 to 174                               D+

207 to 216                               B                          157 to 166                               D

200 to 206                               B-                         150 to 156                               D-

192 to 199                               C+                        below 150                                F

 

 

Students with documented disabilities who require academic adjustments for this class are requested to contact me to discuss reasonable accommodations.  While not required, it is in the best interest of the student to have this conversation early in the semester.  In order to receive academic adjustments paperwork from Disability Services must be provided to document this need.  Disability Services is located in 105 Amstutz, extension 5953.