Attracting, Motivating and Preparing Mathematics students and educators in the Southwest by building an energetic community

University Of New Mexico, Albuquerque NM

Investigators

Abstract

The NSF-funded MCTP project based at the University of New Mexico (UNM) has three main goals: to provide opportunities for students to strengthen their understanding of mathematics and its applications, to impact mathematics education at all levels, and to build an engaging, interacting community. Led by a dynamic group of ten UNM faculty, the MCTP program at UNM will offer an intensive mathematics summer camp geared at advanced undergraduates from throughout the Southwest. This will be followed by an undergraduate honors research program at UNM in which students are closely mentored throughout the academic year. Simultaneously, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows willstudy advanced mathematics in a Qualifying Exam Preparation Seminar which will help both groups succeed in their graduate and post-graduate work. The summer camp will include one week focused on mathematics at the high school level and incorporate high school teachers. Its purpose will be to help participants develop a profound conceptual understanding of key mathematical ideas and on how to present them engagingly. This will provide a rich source of professional development for and interaction between current and future educators. Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows will develop a Graduate Student Teacher Training Seminar in which they critically analyze aspects that impact teaching and learning. An outreach program will teach undergraduates to verbalize mathematics in simple, clear, well-organized terms, which they will then present to high-school students. This will promote interaction between university and high school students. Here, we will target less privileged schools with large minority populations. Undergraduates at all levels will interact during the Southwest Undergraduate Mathematics Research Conference (SUnMaRC) and through Math Club activities. This effort is intended to provide an exciting and rich opportunity to the benefit of all approximately 300 participants directly involved. All participants will gain mathematical knowledge and breadth through various components such as the summer workshop, the undergraduate research program, and the qualifying exam seminar. The postdoctoral fellows will have excellent conditions to develop into effective professionals. All participants will become more aware of sound pedagogical practices which will make them better at transmitting their knowledge and giving those they teach a solid mathematics foundation. The grant will yield outcomes that will permit us to continue the main activities with significantly fewer resources after it has expired. In particular, we will build a structure that enables us to continue the outreach program, the undergraduate research program, the teacher training and the qualifying exam preparation courses. This program will also affect the visibility and perception of mathematics at our university. We have a thriving Math Club whose members are energetic and enthusiastic about mathematics, and we hope we can spread that enthusiasm to produce a thriving, self--sustaining atmosphere of creative enquiry.