2008 Springfield Technical Community College Springfield, Massachusetts

NEMATYC 2008 was held at Springfield Community College on Friday and Saturday, April 11, 12, 2008. The theme was "Keeping it Real in 08". The conference co-chairs were Lauren Brewer and Vanessa Hill. After Friday evening's dinner attendees visited the beautiful Basketball Hall of Fame. Conference Photos

CONFERENCE PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS

Friday

Techniques for using MyMathLab

Pamela B. Omer, Western New England College

Techniques for using MyMathLab to supplement a Fundamentals of Precalculus and Introductory to Statistics Course will be presented. MyMathLab has been used for several semesters and the presenter will discuss the benefits and downfalls of the program. The presenter will provide helpful suggestions for the downfalls and share her overall experience with this on-line program.

P-Value Fallacy and Bayesian alternative: Measure the strength of evidence

Eiki Satake and Philip P. Amato, Emerson College

In interpreting statistical results, P-value and Hypothesis testing are the most widely used Classical statistical methods by many researchers in almost all fields. But, in reality, both methods rarely answer a question and draw a conclusion that involves “statistical significance” of the test results. We will present several main reasons why such methods are inappropriate in measuring the strength of evidence. This argument eventually leads to another method of measuring evidence, called Bayes Factor. We will also compare two different approaches, Classical versus Bayesian, based on data analysis technique and interpretation of the result.

Six problems that every SML participant should know AND The magic of magic squares

Richard Burns and Jean-Marie Magnier, Springfield Technical Community College

“Six problems that every NEMATYC contest participant (and their advisors) should know.” We will present six problems that are not covered in the usual Math course, but are valuable additions to the contestants’ knowledge base when taking the SML test.

Accessibility using a document camera

Zee Haddad, Springfield Technical Community College

New England baseball players made it real!

Stephen Krevisky, Middlesex (CT) Community College

Many New England baseball players graced the playing fields, such as Rabbit Maranville, Leo Durocher, Vic Raschi, Carlton Fisk, Pie Traynor, and others. We will use mathematical formulas and statistics to analyze their player contributions, as well as those of the teams that they played for. We will examine Pythagorean Projections for the teams, as well as Adjusted Earned Run Averages for pitchers, and Slugging Averages or On-Base Averages for batters. This is intended for teachers of Algebra, Statistics, and Quantitative Literacy.

Divisibility Rules

Mark Snyder, Fitchburg State College

After reviewing the well-known rules for telling whether an integer is divisible by 2, 3, 5, 9, 11, or a power of 10, we give an extremely simple rule for divisibility by any odd integer that is not a multiple of 5.

Saturday

Stimulation in the age of simulation (9:30 – 11:15)

Seth Gibson, Vermont Community College

In this age of virtual realities and cyber-simulation, I have gone back to some hands-on problem solving, in order to make the dreaded word problems more acceptable and increase the student involvement in solving problems by methods often "outside of the box". We'll solve a few of my problems; bring some of yours to share, too.

TI83/84 plus statistical calculator tutorials

Walter E. Stone, North Shore Community College

It is helpful for introductory statistics students to follow step-by-step instructions when first using a new statistical procedure on the TI-83/84 plus calculator. This presentation will highlight the use of tutorial materials that guide students through generating statistics, obtaining confidence intervals, and hypothesis testing. Bring your calculator!

MyMathLab Commercial presentation

Kevin O’Brien, Addison Wesley and Prentice-Hall

During this presentation, the Addison Wesley and Prentice-Hall representatives will present two web-based resources being offered with their math texts. These web resources would be of interest to instructors looking to offer easily accessed online homework, quizzes, practice problems and tutorials to enhance a traditional course, as well as those teaching hybrid and online courses. Both these resources correlate directly with the scope and sequence of math texts that Addison Wesley and Prentice-Hall publishes.

A gentle Introduction to Gaussian Curvature

David Mello, Johnson and Wales

An introduction to the geometry of two dimensional surfaces. This might serve as a pedagogical tool for Calculus II and Calculus III teachers who are seeking some enrichment material for their better students.

One-sample inferential statistics using Excel

Barry Woods, Unity College

One aspect of Inferential Statistics is to test hypotheses concerning a single population parameter. While Excel has many such two sample stats, unfortunately, Excel has no one sample stats. This presentation offers new modes of expanding Excel’s capabilities to include one sample inferential statistics (Z 1-mean, t 1-mean, Z 1-proportion, and 1-variance or standard deviation).

Use of Technology in Class Leads to Conceptual Understanding of Statistics

Magdalena Luca, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

Using TI calculators in a Statistics course, in particular in the evolution of teaching an Introductory Statistics course to students enrolled in pharmacy and health sciences degree programs. The use of statistical applications on TI calculators allowed for more lecture time being spent on independent problem solving, analyzing and interpreting real world data, and validating statistical analyses in medical research papers, which in turn led to the development of analytical thinking and a deeper understanding of statistics. I will provide TI 83 calculators and formula sheets to the audience in order to facilitate familiarity with the built-in statistical applications.

MyMathLab Commercial presentation

Kevin O’Brien, Addison Wesley and Prentice-Hall

See the earlier description. For experienced users.

Keeping Calculus Relevant

Robert E Kowalczyk and Adam O. Hausnecht, UMass Dartmouth

How do you keep calculus relevant in this day and age of calculators, computer software, text messaging, iPhones, and the internet? We will demonstrate how you can use state-of-the-art technology and innovative software to provide strong connections between the theory of calculus, its use in the real world, and students’ understanding of calculus.

Lessons Learned from Elementary Mathematics

Professional Development

Andrew Perry, Springfield College

The presenter will share wisdom gleaned from years of teaching in-service elementary teachers in professional development (PD) workshops, as well as his ruminations on the beauty of elementary mathematics and the sorts of mathematical training that elementary teachers, in his humble opinion, ought to have.

Is Barbie for Real? (1:30 -3:15)

Kathleen Rondinone, Southern CT State University

Demonstrations of several lessons employing Barbie and will include handouts for you to use in your classes. Topics include: ratio/proportion, line of best fit, Venn Diagrams, and normal distributions. (Manipulatives – and Barbies – will be available for use during the talk.)

Title III for Developmental Mathematics

Andreanna Grimaldo,Quinsigamond Community College

In 2001, Quinsigamond Community College was awarded a 5-year, Title III grant. Part of the grant focused on QCC's Developmental Mathematics Program creating course-level Instructor Resource Manuals, standardizing curriculum, instituting departmental final exams, providing professional development opportunities, technology training, and the creation and administrative support of the Developmental Mathematics Coaches position.

Introduction to Microsoft OneNote

Mary E. Sullivan, Massasoit Community College

Learn how to use this easy-to-use note-taking and information-management program to organize your teaching materials, plan projects, and conduct research. We will cover formatting notes, inserting files and web content, recording audio notes, and sharing information with others.

Engage students using high and low technology

Robert Cantin, MassBay Community College

AMATYC encourages us to engage developmental math students using technology. Presenter will showcase selected techniques currently used in the classroom, from low tech "portable white boards" through cutting edge digital graphics, used to naturally and effectively engage students in developmental math classes. Open discussion will allow participants to share tools they have found successful.

Exhibitors & Sponsors 2008

Registration List 2008