Spring 2012 presentations

Dr. Al Cuoco

Wednesday, March 21, 2012 at 4:30 p.m.
TBD
UConn Storrs campus

Al Cuoco is a Senior Scientist and Director of the Center for Mathematics Education at Education Development Center (EDC). A student of Ralph Greenberg, he received a Ph.D. in mathematics from Brandeis, with a thesis in algebraic number theory. Al taught high school mathematics to a wide range of students in the Woburn, Massachusetts public schools from 1969 until 1993. At EDC, he has worked in curriculum development, professional development, and education policy. He currently co-directs a high school curriculum development project, two professional development projects (one in collaboration with the mathematics department at Boston University and another in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts), and a project that uses the internet to pair mathematicians and high school students in mathematical research projects. His favorite publication is his 1991 article in the American Mathematical Monthly, described by his wife as "an attempt to explain a number system no one understands with a picture no one can see."

Directions to the Storrs campus
(we recommend parking in the North garage for this event)

Fall 2011 presentations

Dr. Mark Myers

November 16, 2011 at 4:30 p.m.
Biology/Physics Bldg (BPB) Conference Room 131
UConn Storrs campus

"If It Pleases the Court: The Use of Mathematical Reasoning in the Courtroom"

For most of the 300 years since Nicholas Bernoulli submitted his thesis Usu Artis Conjectandi in Jure ("The Use of the Art of Conjecturing in the Law"), the use of mathematics - particularly, probability and statistics - in legal reasoning was contemplated by courts in the U.S. and England with considerable suspicion. However, the passing of the Civil Rights Act in the 1960s ushered in a wave of state and federal cases that presented unique issues of proof, and began the slow process of legitimizing the use of statistical evidence in the courtroom. These decisions, together with the rise of increasingly advanced technologies at issue in the disputes between parties, has opened the door to the introduction of other mathematical arguments that must be harnessed by attorneys, presided over by judges and decided by juries. This talk begins with a review of some of the mathematical principles and techniques that regularly make appearances in U.S. courtrooms - whether applied correctly or incorrectly - sometimes with dispositive consequences. Moreover, the increasing use of mathematics in court raises significant pedagogical questions: For example, what is the most effective way to integrate mathematical training into the curriculum of students entering the legal profession? How can ongoing education most efficiently be structured for judges who must decide cases in an increasingly technical world? And how do the rules and procedures that govern the presentation of expert testimony in court support – or hinder – the ability of jurors to quickly grasp the essence of a mathematical assertion? This talk explores a few of these connections between pedagogy and jurisprudence, with the aim of highlighting opportunities to improve the quality of mathematical discourse in both the legal classroom and the courtroom.

Mark Myers is the General Manager of a Connecticut-based consulting firm, Point Break Associates, LLC that specializes in providing competitive intelligence services to small and medium sized companies. Prior to founding Point Break Associates, he was a UTC Fellow in Embedded Systems and Controls at the United Technologies Research Center, Manager of Business Development and Strategy for UTC Fire and Security and Vice President of Research Services at Nerac, Inc. Mark has a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Cornell University and a law degree from the University of Connecticut School of Law.

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Directions to the Storrs campus
(we recommend parking in the North garage for this event)

Spring 2011 presentations

Prof. Robert Devaney

February 17, 2011 at 4:30 p.m.
Pharmacy/Biology Bldg (PBB) Conference Room 131
UConn Storrs campus

"Chaos and Fractals: Exciting Students About Mathematics"

One of the things that bother me about teaching mathematics is the fact that very few students ever get to see what's new and exciting in mathematics. What do we show them in their twelve years before college (and often their four years in college)? We teach them 4th century BC geometry, 11th century algebra, and, if they are really good and motivated, some 17th century calculus. Unlike the other fields in science and engineering, where everyone knows that interesting and important things are going on, our students rarely get that impression about mathematics. One of my goals over the past twenty years has been to change this mindset. There are plenty of ways to insert contemporary topics in math into the standard curriculum. In this lecture, I will give one such example, namely, how chaos games and fractal images provide a wonderful opportunity to blend together various ideas from middle and high school mathematics. This is a talk I routinely give to students at this grade level, so don't worry about the mathematical level!

Robert L. Devaney is Professor of Mathematics at Boston University. He is the author of over one hundred research papers in the field of dynamical systems as well as a dozen pedagogical papers in this field. He is also the (co)-author or editor of thirteen books in this area of mathematics. He has received numerous national honors for excellence in teaching such as, the Award for Distinguished University Teaching from the Northeastern section of the Mathematical Association of America, the Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award for Distinguished University Teaching, the National Science Foundation Director's Award for Distinguished Teaching Scholars, the ICTCM Award for Excellence and Innovation with the Use of Technology in Collegiate Mathematics, among others. In 2010 he was named the Feld Family Professor of Teaching Excellence at Boston University.

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Directions to the Storrs campus
(we recommend parking in the North garage for this event)

Fall 2010 presentations

Prof. Eric Mazur

September 23, 2010 at 4:30 p.m.
Biology/Physics Bldg (BPB) Conference Room 131
UConn Storrs campus

"Memorization or understanding: are we teaching the right thing?"

Education is more than just transfer of information, yet that is what is mostly done in large introductory courses -- instructors present material (even though this material might be readily available in printed form) and for students the main purpose of lectures is to take down as many notes as they can. Few students have the ability, motivation, and discipline to synthesize all the information delivered to them. Yet synthesis is perhaps the most important -- and most elusive -- aspect of education. I will show how shifting the focus in lectures from delivering information to synthesizing information greatly improves the learning that takes place in the classroom

Eric Mazur is the Balkanski Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Harvard University. An internationally recognized scientist and researcher, he leads a vigorous research program in optical physics and supervises one of the largest research groups in the Physics Department at Harvard University. In addition to his work in optical physics, Dr. Mazur is interested in education, science policy, outreach, and the public perception of science. He believes that better science education for all - not just science majors - is vital for continued scientific progress. To this end, Dr. Mazur devotes part of his research group's effort to education research and finding verifiable ways to improve science education. In 1990 he began developing Peer Instruction a method for teaching large lecture classes interactively. Dr. Mazur's teaching method has developed a large following, both nationally and internationally, and has been adopted across many science disciplines at the K-12 and university level. Mazur is Chairman of the Instructional Strategy Advisory Group for Turning Technologies, a company developing interactive response systems for the education market. Dr. Mazur is author or co-author of 219 scientific publications and 12 patents. He has also written on education and is the author of Peer Instruction: A User's Manual (Prentice Hall, 1997), a book that explains how to teach large lecture classes interactively. In 2006 he helped produce the award-winning DVD Interactive Teaching.

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Directions to the Storrs campus
(we recommend parking in the North garage for this event)

Spring 2010 presentations

Prof. William McCallum

April 1, 2010 at 4:30 p.m.
Biology/Physics Bldg (BPB) Conference Room 130
UConn Storrs campus

"The Common Core State Standards in Mathematics"

For the past 7 months I have been working as lead of the team writing K-12 mathematics standards for the state-led Common Core State Standards Initiative, a joint effort of the National Governors Association and the Council on Chief State School Officers. The public draft of the standards is now available for comment on at. I will describe the process by which the standards were produced, describe some of the underlying principles and sources that were used in their design, present some sample progressions in the standards document, and lay out some of the remaining work to be done. Questions and comments about the standards will be welcome, and I encourage the audience to take a look at them at the website above in preparation for the talk.

William G. McCallum is a University Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Head of the Mathematics Department. He is founder of the Institute for Mathematics and Education at the University of Arizona. As a member of the Harvard calculus consortium, he is the lead author of the consortium's multivariable calculus and college algebra texts. In 2005 he received the Director's Award for Distinguished Teaching Scholars from the National Science Foundation. His professional interests include arithmetical algebraic geometry and mathematics education. He has received grants and written articles, essays, and books in both areas. He is currently serving as team lead and author on the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices committee working to develop common core standards for mathematics in the U.S.

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Directions to the Storrs campus
(we recommend parking in the North garage for this event)

Prof. Kenneth I. Gross

April 22, 2010 at 4:30 p.m.
Biology/Physics Bldg (BPB) Conference Room 130
UConn Storrs campus

"Elementary teachers as mathematicians: Turning challenges into opportunities"

As the mathematics learned in the elementary grades forms the foundation for the mathematics taught at the middle and secondary levels and in college, the role of the elementary teacher is of crucial importance in laying the foundation for students' success in later mathematics courses and ultimately for pursuing scientific and technological careers. If we are to raise student achievement at all educational levels and for all students, we must provide elementary teachers with a more broad and deep understanding of mathematics and the capability to translate that knowledge into the elementary school classroom. In this presentation we will discuss mathematics content needs of elementary teachers, why primary teachers need to know "higher mathematics", the Vermont Mathematics Initiative (VMI), a successful statewide, content-based professional development program for K-8 teachers, understanding arithmetic and algebra through English language grammar and time permitting, enduring mathematical motifs that stretch from the kindergarten classroom to the research frontier. The presentation is designed for a general audience and has no mathematics or education prerequisites.

Directions to the Storrs campus
(we recommend parking in the North garage for this event)

Fall 2009 presentations

Dr. Liping Ma

October 8, 2009 at 4:30 p.m.
Konover Auditorium at the Dodd Center
UConn Storrs campus

"The learning of fractions: How can it be built on the learning of whole numbers?"

There may be two approaches to teaching fractions: Teaching fractions "in parallel" with whole numbers or first teaching students about whole numbers, then building their understanding of fractions. The first is a well-known and widely used approach in U.S. elementary schools. This talk will describe the second approach: How students' understanding of the concept of fraction as well as their skill in computing with fractions may be built on their learning of whole numbers and how students' learning of whole numbers may be carefully designed so that it serves as a sound foundation for learning fractions.

Dr. Liping Ma is the author of the book Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics. Her book is quoted on all sides of discussions about how to teach mathematics in elementary schools in the United States. She holds a master's degree in education from East China Normal University and a Ph.D. in curriculum and teacher education from Stanford University.

Click here for the full flyer (PDF)

Parking Information: We recommend visitors use the South Parking Garage (C7, C8 on the campus map, also code SPRK on the interactive map) and walk to Thomas J. Dodd Center (look for Dodd on map): Exit the South Parking Garage onto Stadium Road. (Gampel Pavilion will be across the street.) Turn right, walk down Stadium Road, and proceed to the first stop sign at the intersection of Stadium and Hillside Roads. (The UConn Co-op will be on your immediate right.) At the stop sign, walk straight across Hillside Road and continue straight, passing the new School of Business and the Graduate Dorms. You will be facing the Whetten Graduate School. Turn right and pass the Whetton Graduate School. Continue walking straight for a few yards. The rear entrance to the Dodd Center will be straight ahead. It takes about 10 minutes from parking the car, visitors should plan accordingly.

Prof. Wilfried Schmid

November 12, 2009 at 4:30 p.m.
Biology/Physics Bldg (BPB) Room 131
UConn Storrs campus

"Conflicts between Mathematics Educators and Mathematicians, and Ways to Overcome Them"

Though neither mathematics educators nor mathematicians hold uniform views on K-12 mathematics educators, in both groups there exists what might be called a mainstream consensus. I shall outline the disagreements between the two communities, analyze their origins and consequences, and describe successful efforts to defuse them.

Dr. Wilfried Schmid is the Dwight Parker Robinson Professor of Mathematics at Harvard University. He holds a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley. Schmid has served as Mathematics Advisor to the Massachusetts Department of Education, as member of the Steering Committee of Mathematics NAEP, and as member of the Program Committee of the International Congress of Mathematics Education 2004. He has lectured widely on the subject of mathematics education, to audiences of mathematicians. Together with Deborah Ball, Jeremy Kilpatrick, Joan Ferrini-Mundi, Jim Milgram, and Richard Schaar, he wrote the declaration ``Reaching for Common Ground in K-12 Mathematics Education".

Click here for the full flyer (PDF)

Directions to the Storrs campus
(we recommend parking in the North garage for this event)