Spring 2016 Spring Conference
Click here for Friday Program.The following programs are tentative, and may change due to last-minute cancellations.
The Saturday Program
8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m.: Registration
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.: Breakout session
10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.: Breakout session
11:30 a.m. - 12:45 p.m.: Lunch
12:45 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.: Mathemagics Show by Art Benjamin
1:15 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.: Keynote Speaker: Judith Grabiner
2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.: Breakout session
3:30 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.: Mathemagics Show by Art Benjamin
3:45 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.: Door prizes
Keynote Presentation
|
Speaker: Judith Grabiner, Pitzer College Title: Mathematics and Culture: Geometry and Everything Else Abstract: Euclid’s geometry was long seen as the model of certainty. It trained the mind, drew the soul from the changing to the real, described art and architecture, and upheld the natural and social order. It supported Newtonian science and embodied Leibniz’s Principle of Sufficient Reason. Yet it had a tragic flaw. Mathematicians, whether Ancient or Enlightenment, Christian or Jewish or Muslim, worked in vain to fix things. The ideal blew up in everyone’s faces in the nineteenth century, producing new ideas of space, destroying the unchallengeable authority of mathematics, revolutionizing art, making relativity physics possible, and helping create modernism. We’ll see how the specialists’ technical mathematics can do and has done all of this. |
 |
9:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Teaching Math or Stat Online? Building a Community for Faculty
Speaker: Barbara Illowsky
Do you teach online? Are you thinking about teaching online in the future? Let's meet to form a statewide "support group" of mathematics faculty in which we can share and brainstorm successes and challenges, including what the CCC Online Education Initiative can offer.
Creating an iPad Classroom for Redesign and Innovation
Speaker: Lynn Marecek
Advances in technology and classroom learning management systems as well as economic constraints are affecting the classroom implementation of Redesign and other innovations. This session will help faculty see an iPad classroom as a viable possibility by sharing logistics, classroom management techniques, and strategies used in a Redesign iPad classroom.
Through the Eyes of the Mathematician - CANCELED
Speaker: Cheryl Ooten, Ph.D.
Explore mathematics, its branches, research specialties, overcoming math anxiety models, big problems—solved and unsolved intertwined with cool stories and history. Take this presentation back to your classrooms to give your students a BIG Overview Picture of math to see where their course fits and why we love it so.
Matrices are Matrices of Matrices: A Blockheaded Approach to Linear Algebra
Speaker: Stephan Ramon Garcia
Linear algebra is best done with block matrices. We'll revisit some familiar results from this "blockheaded" perspective and demonstrate a couple of nice tricks that are largely unknown to the general mathematics community.
Mathematics in Non-Mathematics Classes
Speaker: Larry Green
Will I ever need to use this worthless math? Your students will never ask this question again after watching video clips in this talk. We will explore a collection of hundreds of clips from course lectures from Biology, Physics, Psychology, etc. that directly use what is taught in math classes.
Ancient Numeration Systems
Speaker: Lusine Kopushyan
This talk is about Egyptian, Mayan, and Roman numeration systems -- how they are similar or different from Hindu-Arabic Numerals and their rules.
Speaker: Barbara Illowsky
Do you teach online? Are you thinking about teaching online in the future? Let's meet to form a statewide "support group" of mathematics faculty in which we can share and brainstorm successes and challenges, including what the CCC Online Education Initiative can offer.
Creating an iPad Classroom for Redesign and Innovation
Speaker: Lynn Marecek
Advances in technology and classroom learning management systems as well as economic constraints are affecting the classroom implementation of Redesign and other innovations. This session will help faculty see an iPad classroom as a viable possibility by sharing logistics, classroom management techniques, and strategies used in a Redesign iPad classroom.
Through the Eyes of the Mathematician - CANCELED
Speaker: Cheryl Ooten, Ph.D.
Explore mathematics, its branches, research specialties, overcoming math anxiety models, big problems—solved and unsolved intertwined with cool stories and history. Take this presentation back to your classrooms to give your students a BIG Overview Picture of math to see where their course fits and why we love it so.
Matrices are Matrices of Matrices: A Blockheaded Approach to Linear Algebra
Speaker: Stephan Ramon Garcia
Linear algebra is best done with block matrices. We'll revisit some familiar results from this "blockheaded" perspective and demonstrate a couple of nice tricks that are largely unknown to the general mathematics community.
Mathematics in Non-Mathematics Classes
Speaker: Larry Green
Will I ever need to use this worthless math? Your students will never ask this question again after watching video clips in this talk. We will explore a collection of hundreds of clips from course lectures from Biology, Physics, Psychology, etc. that directly use what is taught in math classes.
Ancient Numeration Systems
Speaker: Lusine Kopushyan
This talk is about Egyptian, Mayan, and Roman numeration systems -- how they are similar or different from Hindu-Arabic Numerals and their rules.
10:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Creating Rational Equations that Have Rational Solutions
Speaker: Alan Roebuck
It's time to write a test including rational equations. You want some of them to reduce to quadratics, but you want the solutions to be rational. No need to raid other textbooks. Come learn about theorems and rules for creating a wide range of rational equations with strictly rational solutions.
Teaching Differential Equations the SIMIODE Way
Speaker: John Thoo
SIMIODE (Systemic Initiative for Modeling Investigations and Opportunities with Differential Equations) flips the traditional differential equations course. Using data from a hands-on activity or narrative, students first develop a model that introduces a type of DE. Then students use technology or learn techniques to solve DE of that type. This talk features a hands-on activity and discussion of this approach.
The Pythagorean Proposition and the Enduring Beauty of Mathematics
Speaker: John Martin
In the 1800’s, Charles Dodgson observed, “The Pythagorean theorem is as dazzlingly beautiful now as it was the day when Pythagoras first discovered it.” In this talk, we will explore the history of the theorem and the beauty that it still reveals today.
Assess for Student Success
Speaker: Marina Aminy, CAI Professional Development Coordinator
The work of the Common Assessment Initiative (CAI) will soon result in the rollout of CCCAssess, a common assessment system to be used for local placement decisions. Pilot colleges and early adopters will begin using CCCAssess in the fall of 2016 for spring 2017 placement. Updates on field testing and the local implementation process will be provided, along with the opportunity to have any of your math-specific content and competency map related questions answered.
Visualizing Mathematics
Speaker: Karl Ting
The Chinese have an old saying, “A Picture is Worth a Ten Thousand Words”. MAA Press published two books by Roger B. Nelsen entitled Proofs without Words: Exercises in Visual Thinking. It inspired me to look at problems from a different perspective. The talk will explore problems, proofs, and puzzles using visual cues. Pythagoras, Euclid, Leonardo da Vinci, Fibonacci, Gauss, Einstein, and others will surely add their touch to the talk. No words are necessary, but it is hard to keep a teacher from talking. It will be a discussion of ideas.
Humanistic Mathematics: What You Should Know
Speaker: Gizem Karaali
"Humanistic mathematics" means "the human face of mathematics"--the aesthetic, cultural, historical, literary, pedagogical, philosophical, psychological, and sociological aspects of doing, teaching, learning, and living mathematics. This is an invitation to contribute to conversations related to this idea that mathematics is a human endeavor. Expect your creative genius to be inspired!
Speaker: Alan Roebuck
It's time to write a test including rational equations. You want some of them to reduce to quadratics, but you want the solutions to be rational. No need to raid other textbooks. Come learn about theorems and rules for creating a wide range of rational equations with strictly rational solutions.
Teaching Differential Equations the SIMIODE Way
Speaker: John Thoo
SIMIODE (Systemic Initiative for Modeling Investigations and Opportunities with Differential Equations) flips the traditional differential equations course. Using data from a hands-on activity or narrative, students first develop a model that introduces a type of DE. Then students use technology or learn techniques to solve DE of that type. This talk features a hands-on activity and discussion of this approach.
The Pythagorean Proposition and the Enduring Beauty of Mathematics
Speaker: John Martin
In the 1800’s, Charles Dodgson observed, “The Pythagorean theorem is as dazzlingly beautiful now as it was the day when Pythagoras first discovered it.” In this talk, we will explore the history of the theorem and the beauty that it still reveals today.
Assess for Student Success
Speaker: Marina Aminy, CAI Professional Development Coordinator
The work of the Common Assessment Initiative (CAI) will soon result in the rollout of CCCAssess, a common assessment system to be used for local placement decisions. Pilot colleges and early adopters will begin using CCCAssess in the fall of 2016 for spring 2017 placement. Updates on field testing and the local implementation process will be provided, along with the opportunity to have any of your math-specific content and competency map related questions answered.
Visualizing Mathematics
Speaker: Karl Ting
The Chinese have an old saying, “A Picture is Worth a Ten Thousand Words”. MAA Press published two books by Roger B. Nelsen entitled Proofs without Words: Exercises in Visual Thinking. It inspired me to look at problems from a different perspective. The talk will explore problems, proofs, and puzzles using visual cues. Pythagoras, Euclid, Leonardo da Vinci, Fibonacci, Gauss, Einstein, and others will surely add their touch to the talk. No words are necessary, but it is hard to keep a teacher from talking. It will be a discussion of ideas.
Humanistic Mathematics: What You Should Know
Speaker: Gizem Karaali
"Humanistic mathematics" means "the human face of mathematics"--the aesthetic, cultural, historical, literary, pedagogical, philosophical, psychological, and sociological aspects of doing, teaching, learning, and living mathematics. This is an invitation to contribute to conversations related to this idea that mathematics is a human endeavor. Expect your creative genius to be inspired!
2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Factoring Trinomials: Past, Present, and Future
Speaker: Jeff Warsinski
We currently use a variety of techniques which result in roughly the same student outcome. We will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of current methods as well as a method that combines the “good” of some of them while leaving out the confusing “bad”.
Active Learning and Social Media
Speakers: Fred Feldon and Edouard Tchertchian
How to incorporate technology, social media, flipping, and other tips and tricks to increase face-to-face and online student interaction, participation, and whole-class discussion of higher-level concepts, which profoundly change the teaching/learning process.
L.A. Math
Speaker: Jim Stein
Students learn best when they are enjoying the experience of learning, and when what they are learning has context for them. Math for Liberal Arts often fails because we project our enjoyment and what is context for us onto our students. Here’s a different way to achieve these goals.
Flip your Grade Book with Concept Based Grading
Speaker: Phil A. Smith
Do your students focus on the grade over the course content? Argue about points taken off? Ask for extra credit? You aren’t the cause of these behaviors; it’s your grading system! Concept-based grading is an assessment approach in which your gradebook is flipped; course concepts are the focus, not assignments.
Introduction to Satellites
Speaker: Ing-Yung Li Tse
The presentation will provide an overview of satellite design from proposal to launch as well as operation. I will also share my personal journey as a math major from non-English speaking graduate teaching assistant to analyst, programmer, and department manager to project manager at an aerospace company.
Statistics from the Students’ Voices
Speaker: Monica Dabos
We live in an age of technology and more and more we become dependent on it. As instructors we need to encourage our students to stand out from their counterpart computers. Robotic computations and script answers can be easily replaced with computers. However, when we give power to students’ voices, students rise to the challenge. Then we encounter a richness from their responses that are filled with critical thinking and conceptual understanding of the most difficult topics of statistics. Their work in turn can be used for teaching statistics to subsequent classes. This workshop will showcase students’ work on the interpretation of histograms; students’ conclusions on hypothesis testing, and students’ interpretation of p-value. A follow up discussion on how to encourage these types of responses will take place.
Speaker: Jeff Warsinski
We currently use a variety of techniques which result in roughly the same student outcome. We will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of current methods as well as a method that combines the “good” of some of them while leaving out the confusing “bad”.
Active Learning and Social Media
Speakers: Fred Feldon and Edouard Tchertchian
How to incorporate technology, social media, flipping, and other tips and tricks to increase face-to-face and online student interaction, participation, and whole-class discussion of higher-level concepts, which profoundly change the teaching/learning process.
L.A. Math
Speaker: Jim Stein
Students learn best when they are enjoying the experience of learning, and when what they are learning has context for them. Math for Liberal Arts often fails because we project our enjoyment and what is context for us onto our students. Here’s a different way to achieve these goals.
Flip your Grade Book with Concept Based Grading
Speaker: Phil A. Smith
Do your students focus on the grade over the course content? Argue about points taken off? Ask for extra credit? You aren’t the cause of these behaviors; it’s your grading system! Concept-based grading is an assessment approach in which your gradebook is flipped; course concepts are the focus, not assignments.
Introduction to Satellites
Speaker: Ing-Yung Li Tse
The presentation will provide an overview of satellite design from proposal to launch as well as operation. I will also share my personal journey as a math major from non-English speaking graduate teaching assistant to analyst, programmer, and department manager to project manager at an aerospace company.
Statistics from the Students’ Voices
Speaker: Monica Dabos
We live in an age of technology and more and more we become dependent on it. As instructors we need to encourage our students to stand out from their counterpart computers. Robotic computations and script answers can be easily replaced with computers. However, when we give power to students’ voices, students rise to the challenge. Then we encounter a richness from their responses that are filled with critical thinking and conceptual understanding of the most difficult topics of statistics. Their work in turn can be used for teaching statistics to subsequent classes. This workshop will showcase students’ work on the interpretation of histograms; students’ conclusions on hypothesis testing, and students’ interpretation of p-value. A follow up discussion on how to encourage these types of responses will take place.
The Friday Program
7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.: Ignite® Presentations
Ignite Presentations (7:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.)
1. Dr. Larry Green, Online Education Initiative
2. Dr. Gizem Karaali, Humanistic Mathematics: What You Should Know
3. Karl Ting, Ignite the WOW
4. Jay Lehmann, Teaching a Pre-Statistics Course: Propelling Non-STEM Students Forward
5. Jeff Warsinski, Factoring Trinomials: Past, Present, and Future
6. Coleman Dobson, The Holographic Universe in Terms of Varieties
7. Shandy Hauk, Elementary Algebra and Web-based Tools - A Research Study
8. John Thoo, History of Mathematics in Developmental Courses
9. Tuyetdong Phan-Yamada, Exploring Polar Curves
2. Dr. Gizem Karaali, Humanistic Mathematics: What You Should Know
3. Karl Ting, Ignite the WOW
4. Jay Lehmann, Teaching a Pre-Statistics Course: Propelling Non-STEM Students Forward
5. Jeff Warsinski, Factoring Trinomials: Past, Present, and Future
6. Coleman Dobson, The Holographic Universe in Terms of Varieties
7. Shandy Hauk, Elementary Algebra and Web-based Tools - A Research Study
8. John Thoo, History of Mathematics in Developmental Courses
9. Tuyetdong Phan-Yamada, Exploring Polar Curves