In January three mathematics majors presented their research at the annual AMS-MAA Joint Mathematics Meetings in Baltimore, Md., which is the largest mathematics conference in the world. Kim Hildebrand presented “Using Independent Bernoulli Random Variables to Model Gender Hiring Practices” (advisor: Dr. Debra Hydorn), Casey Howren presented “A Numerical Analysis of the SIR Model for Modeling Epidemics” (advisor: Dr. Leo Lee), and Dane Lawhorne presented “The Fundamental Groups of the Digital Line and Circles” (advisor: Dr. Randall Helmstutler). The students presented as part of the MAA’s undergraduate student poster session, and Dane Lawhorne was given special recognition as an outstanding presenter in the session.
Hydorn Presents Paper, Has Artwork in Mathematical Art Exhibition
On Jan. 16, 2014, Dr. Debra Hydorn, Professor of Mathematics, gave the presentation “Infographics Activities to Promote Graphical and Quantitative Literacy” at the 2014 Joint Mathematics Meetings in Baltimore, Md. The presentation described activities from her First-Year Seminar on Infographics. Dr. Hydorn also had the artwork “Gnomon Board” accepted for the Exhibition of Mathematical Art of the Joint Meetings and she served as a judge for the annual Student Poster Competition.
Professors Present at AAC&U STEM Conference
Kathryn Loesser-Casey, professor of biology, and Debra Hydorn, professor of mathematics, gave the poster presentation “A New Course to Develop Students’ Scientific Reasoning and Practice Skills” at the AAC&U conference Transforming STEM Education: Inquiry, Innovation, Inclusion and Evidence, Oct. 31-Nov. 2, in San Diego, Calif. The poster provided information about the development of IDIS 101 Scientific Reasoning and Practices to prepare incoming students for college-level science course work, which was developed through support from the NSF STEREPS grant. In addition, Deborah O’Dell, associate professor of biology, gave the poster presentation “Using Clickers in the STEM classroom to Promote Student Engagement and Learning” about her experiences using a student response system.
Debra Hydorn Participates in INGenIOuS Workshop
Debra Hydorn, professor of Mathematics, was a participant in the Investing in the Next Generation through Innovative and Outstanding Strategies (INGenIOuS) Workshop held in Alexandria, Va., July 15-17. The workshop was sponsored by the National Science Foundation and four disciplinary societies (MAA, AMS, ASA and SIAM) to begin the development of strategies for investing in the training of undergraduate and graduate students to meet the challenges of increasingly complex scientific and social problems. Interested faculty can join the INGenIOuS community at http://www.ingeniousmathstat.org/community
Four UMW Faculty Present at 2013 Lilly Conference
Suzanne Sumner explains her presentation during the 2013 Lilly Conference. Photo courtesy of Ian Franczak.
Suzanne Sumner, professor of mathematics, Mary Beth Mathews, associate professor of religion, Kathryn Loesser-Casey, professor of biology, and Debra Hydorn, professor of mathematics, gave presentations at the 2013 Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching. The theme of this year’s conference was “Evidence Based Teaching and Learning.” Professors Sumner and Mathews gave a poster presentation on “The ‘Race and Revolotion’ First-Year Seminar: Reclaiming the University of Mary Washington’s Social Justice.” Professors Hydorn and Loesser-Casey gave a workshop on “A New Course to Develop Students’ Scientific Reasoning and Practice Skills.” The conference took place in Bethesda, Md., from May 30 – June 2.
Debra Hydorn Presents Infographics Poster at USCOTS
Debra Hydorn, professor of mathematics, presented the poster “Infographics: A First-Year Seminar on Visual Communication” on May 17 at the US Conference on Teaching Statistics in Cary, NC. The poster provided information about the organization and goals of the course and showcased example infographics created by students enrolled in the course.
Mathematics Faculty and Student Present in San Diego
Suzanne Sumner
At the 2013 Joint Mathematics Meetings in San Diego, Calif., in January, two faculty members and a student from UMW presented their work. Suzanne Sumner, professor of mathematics, delivered the talk “Intensive Experiences for Undergraduate Mathematics” in a session on Communicating Mathematics sponsored by the Mathematical Association of America.
Debra Hydorn
Debra Hydorn, professor of mathematics, spoke in a session devoted to Innovative Ideas for Courses in the First Two Years. Her talk was titled “Exploratory Projects in an Introduction to Discrete Mathematics Course.” Hydorn gave a second talk titled “Using R for Data Analysis Assignments in an Introductory Statistics Course” in a session devoted to Modern Ideas in Introductory Statistics Courses. In addition, she was honored to have a piece of geometric artwork accepted through a juried process to the Mathematical Art Exhibition.
Finally, UMW senior Ryan Vaughn presented a poster at the National Undergraduate Student poster competition. Ryan’s poster, titled “Embeddings of Complete Bipartite Graphs in Finite Projective Planes” won one of the Outstanding Poster Awards.
Debra Hydorn Publishes Lesson Plans
Debra Hydorn
As an associate editor for the website Statistics on the Web, Professor of Mathematics Debra Hydorn recently published two lesson plans. Titled “The Taste of Yellow” and “How Long is 30 Seconds?” these lesson plans serve as exemplars that follow the Guidelines for Assessment and Instruction in Statistics Education from the American Statistical Association and also meet standards set by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the Common Core for State Standards for Mathematics Practice.
Esunge, Hydorn and Lee Active at National Mathematics Meetings
Julius Esunge
Dr. Julius Esunge, assistant professor of mathematics, recently organized a session at the national Joint Mathematics Meetings held in Boston, Mass., in January. His session, titled “Stochastic Analysis in Honor of Professor Hui-Hsiung Kuo” ran for two concurrent days and brought in about 20 speakers from around the world.
Dr. Debra Hydorn, professor of mathematics, delivered a presentation titled Fostering Artistic
Debra Hydorn
Explorations with Geometer’s Sketchpad in a session on Arts and Mathematics at the conference. In addition, Dr. Hydorn had a piece of art selected for display at the Joint Meetings. A video about the art exhibit was made to showcase the event.
Dr. Jangwoon “Leo” Lee, assistant professor of mathematics, delivered the presentation Galerkin Finite Element Approximations of an Optimal Control Problem for Elliptic PDEs with Random Input Data, in a session on Numerical Analysis at the conference. Dr. Lee also served as a judge for the national undergraduate student poster competition at the same meeting.
Leo Lee
In addition, five majors in the Department of Mathematics presented results of their research projects at the meeting.
Ryan Vaughn, mentored by Dr. Randall Helmstutler, along with Katie Dillinger and Rebecca Pressor mentored by Dr. Leo Lee presented posters that detail their work as part of the national undergraduate student poster competition.
Additionally, Catherine O’Doherty and Marianne Dubinsky, mentored by Dr. Julius Esunge, delivered presentations on their research. Each of the projects extends work initiated as part of the Jepson Summer Science Institute from summer 2011.
Kathryn Loesser-Casey and Debra Hydorn
Kathryn Loesser-Casey, professor of biological sciences, and Debra Hydorn, professor of mathematics, gave the poster presentation “Putting BIO2010 Into Practice: A Course on the Research Process for STEM Majors” at the Association of American Colleges and Universities conference “Engaged STEM Learning: From Promising to Pervasive Practices” held in Miami in March. The poster presentation provided an opportunity for Hydorn and Loesser-Casey to share information about the UMW course, Biology 260 The Research Process, with faculty from across the STEM disciplines.