calculus

MAA MATHFEST 2015Minicourses (continued)4. Recruiting Students to Take More MathematicsCourses and to be Mathematics MajorsPart A:Wednesday, August 5, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PMOmni Shoreham Hotel, Calvert RoomPart B:Friday, August 7, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM,Omni Shoreham Hotel, Calvert RoomWe will discuss some principles and specific activitieswe have used to increase the number of students takingmathematics courses and becoming math majors. Principlesinclude creating a culture of “Math is cool!”, exposing studentsto careers and opportunities available to those who studymathematics, and being proactive in your efforts. Specificactivities include a “Careers in Mathematics” seminar, afreshman/sophomore class titled “Intro to being a math major,”the creation of a student advisory council, a big screen HDTVdisplay with a PowerPoint presentation about mathematics, aset of math t-shirts, and the “We Use Math” website.Michael Dorff, Brigham Young University6. Creating Flipped Learning Experiences in theCollege Mathematics ClassroomPart A:Thursday, August 6, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PMOmni Shoreham Hotel, Calvert RoomPart B:Saturday, August 8, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PMOmni Shoreham Hotel, Calvert RoomIn the “flipped learning” approach to teaching, sometimescalled the flipped classroom, direct instruction is movedoutside the class meeting space, and the resulting freed up timein class is used for group explorations of the most challengingideas. In this minicourse, participants will work together tolearn about the core ideas of the flipped classroom and creatematerials for flipped learning in college mathematics. We willalso discuss related issues such as formative and summativeassessment, getting student buy in, technical questionsabout content creation, and making the flipped classroom asustainable professional practice.Robert Talbert, Grand Valley State University5. Using Videos of Students Developing Proofs toGuide Teaching and LearningPart A:Thursday, August 6, 3:30 PM – 5:30 PMOmni Shoreham Hotel, Calvert RoomPart B:Saturday, August 8, 3:30 PM – 5:30 PM,Omni Shoreham Hotel, Calvert RoomThis minicourse will be of interest to anyone engaged in theteaching of proof- writing. Participants will develop a deeperunderstanding of students’ struggles as they view and discussshort videos of students constructing proofs for problemsused in introduction-to-proof courses. The emphasis of theminicourse will be on identifying and implementing teachingstrategies that help students overcome their difficultiesand help them develop more effective proof-writing skills.Participants will be provided ongoing access to a library ofedited student videos, developed by the organizers, which canbe used as a classroom tool.James Sandefur, Georgetown UniversityConnie Campbell, Millsaps CollegeKay Somers, Moravian College7. Teaching Mathematics with Bead CrochetPart A:Wednesday, August 5, 3:30 PM – 5:30 PMOmni Shoreham Hotel, Calvert RoomPart B:Friday, August 7, 3:30 PM – 5:30 PMOmni Shoreham Hotel, Calvert RoomWe are all on the lookout for ways to entice people intomathematical discovery, especially those who might otherwisebe intimidated by math. Bead crochet offers an entrée intomany fields of mathematics, including geometry, topology, andabstract algebra. In this course, participants will learn waysto motivate deep ideas in math for their students through beadcrochet models and the design and practice of bead crochet. Inthe first session, everyone will learn the basics of bead crochetneeded to make their own mathematical models. In the secondsession, we will discuss how to use bead crochet models andpuzzles in the classroom.Susan Goldstine, St. Mary’s College of MarylandEllie Baker, Freelance34 Washington, DC | August 5–8, 2015 #MAAthFest