Section NExT – Wisconsin Fall Conference 2017
Saturday, November 4, 2017
9:00 – 9:30 am: Refreshments and Social Hour
9:30 – 10:00 am: Section NExT – Wisconsin Welcome Address and Discussion – Holly Attenborough, University of Wisconsin-Platteville and Matthew Corne, University of Wisconsin-Stout
10:00 – 11:00 am: An Inquiry-Oriented Approach to the Teaching and Learning of Linear Algebra – Megan Wawro, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
The Inquiry-Oriented Linear Algebra (IOLA) project focuses on developing challenging and coherent task sequences that facilitate an inquiry-oriented approach to the teaching and learning ofintroductorylinear algebra. Many of the tasks in the IOLA materials are created to facilitate students engaging in task settings in such a way that their mathematical activity can serve as a foundation from which more formal mathematics can be developed.The project has also developed instructional support materials to help instructors implement the IOLA tasks in their classrooms.These materials include rationales for design of the tasks, suggestions for promoting student and instructor inquiry, and examples of typical student work. In this interactive presentation, I will discuss the instructional theory that guides IOLA, illustrate the IOLA materials through a task sequence about change of basis and eigentheory, and discuss someresearch on how students reason about eigenvectors and eigenvalues.
11:00 – 12:00 pm: Question and Answer Session – Megan Wawro
12:00 – 2:00 pm: Break for Lunch
2:00 – 4:30 pm: Member Presentations (~25 minutes each)
Reducing Student Testing Anxiety by Implementing a Three-Stage Group Testing Method –
Suzanne Caulfield – Cardinal Stritch University
Two-stage group testing methods in mathematics have been shown to reduce student stress during exams. Arguments have been posed in favor of two-stage collaborative group exams for just this reason. Others concur and discuss the opportunity students have to learn during the testing process, rather than being penalized for a lack of knowledge. Ocassionally regression can occur, due to group dynamics. Finally, the strategies on how to implement a two-stage test were researched. However, no evidence or research has been found on the benefits of three-stage testing. This presentation will highlight the rationale of three-stage testing and give preliminary examples of its success in reducing student stress during exams, and improving student learning outcomes.
Reflections on the Undergraduate Research Process – Kyle Czarnecki – UW-Platteville
Dr. Czarnecki is an Assistant Professor at UW-Platteville where he is nearing the completion of his first undergraduate research project. In this talk, he will discuss his recent experience as well as the undergraduate research process in general. The goal of the discussion will be to share and generate ideas on the various stages of undergraduate research. Consequently, the talk will be accessible to all and should be especially interesting to those involved in or about to begin an undergraduate research project.
Matching and Independence Complexes Related to Small Grids – Wesley K. Hough – UW-Whitewater
The main idea of discrete Morse theory is to pair cells in a cellular complex in a manner that permits cancellation via elementary collapses, reducing the complex under consideration to a homotopy-equivalent complex with fewer cells. In this talk, we briefly survey tools from discrete Morse theory useful for analyzing the independence complex of graphs. More specifically, we develop particular matching tree algorithms applied to certain grid graphs that obey cell-counting recursions connecting back to interesting combinatorial sequences.
No prior knowledge of graph theory or topology is assumed, butappropriate intuition will be discussed.
Effect of Belongingness Intervention on Student Performance – Matthew Corne – UW-Stout
A belongingness activity was implemented in introductory-level math and physics courses. In our investigation, we gave students a series of quotes from previous students about how they coped with not feeling like they belonged and then asked the current students to write a short description of how they are dealing with their feelings of belonging in their course. We looked at whether this intervention had an impact on student anxieties associated with the class and their sense of belongingness. We also looked at how the belongingness intervention affected student performance in the classes. We will discuss our initial findings and future directions.
On Being a Wisconsin Teaching Fellow and my Project – Holly Attenborough – UW-Platteville
This year I had the great pleasure of being a Wisconsin Teaching Fellow. The Wisconsin Teaching Fellows and Scholars Program is an opportunity within the UW-System that helps foster a SoTL project. I will use this talk to discuss what being a part of this program entailed and describe the SoTL project I have been working on. For my project, I am studying the liberal arts math class at UW-Platteville to determine if the class has an effect on attitudes towards mathematics (and in turn success in mathematics).
4:30 pm: Break for Dinner/Break for the Evening
Sunday, November 5, 2017
9:00 – 9:30 am: Refreshments and Social Hour
9:30 – 11:30 am: Why Aren’t We All Using IBL? – Susan Crook, Loras College
Inquiry-based learning has been a buzzword in college mathematics teaching circles for years. By having students have more ownership over their own learning, IBL has been shown to begin closing the achievement gap for minority students. Anecdotal evidence of its success abounds…so, with all this positive data, why isn’t every math classroom taught using IBL methods? In this interactive talk (a lecture on IBL and active learning just seems wrong, doesn’t it?), we’ll discuss some of the common obstacles and challenges professors experience when they use IBL and brainstorm some ways to overcome these issues. I’ll demonstrate some tactics that have been successful, so come ready to talk, do some math, and maybe even dance!
11:30 – 12:00 pm: Member Discussion: Direction of Section NExT – Wisconsin
12:00 pm: Break for Lunch/Home