2009 Southern New Hampshire University Manchester, NH

Conference Photos

Conference Committee
David Cox (Co-Chair)
Alec Ingraham (Co-Chair)
Kathy Willis
Chris Toy
Pamela Cohen
Jennifer Heins 

TREASURER'S REPORT

Bank Account Balance, April 25, 2009
:	Checking	$1768.71
	Savings:	$766.03
	CD:	$3365.80
	TOTAL	$5900.54
INCOME:	Interest (To Savings)	$0.14
EXPENSES:	(From Checking)
	Student Math League Awards	-$900.00
Bank Account Balance, March 25, 2009:		$6800.40
	Checking:	$ 168.71
	Savings:	$765.89
	CD:	$5865.80
	TOTAL:	$6800.40
	Income:	+$0.14
	Expenses:	- $900.00
April 21, 2009 Balance		$5900.54

*Please note:  $2500 was transferred from the CD to checking as agreed upon.

Respectfully submitted,

Lauren Brewer
Treasurer

CONFERENCE PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS

Friday 3:30 – 4:15

Jane Tanner, Onondaga Community College
What’s Puzzling You?
Everyone is now familiar with Sudoku. But just what else is out there in terms of mathematical and logic puzzles? This talk will make everyone aware of other challenging types of puzzles that exist. Be prepared to spend more time with puzzles and less time sleeping!

Ruth Heath, Valerie LaVoice, Beverly Boggess, New Hampshire Technical Institute
The Impact of Faculty Tablet PC Usage Upon Student Learning and Faculty Teaching
This session will present the experiences from NHTI’s Tablet PC Pilot Project in Mathematics, Physics and Information Technology. As an application of Universal Design for Learning, Tablet PC usage by faculty was selected to provide digitized classroom notes and an unrestricted view of the screen to support students such as those with disabilities who may struggle with taking notes. A faculty member involved in the project will demonstrate her revised lesson on quadratic equations. Presenters will share results of evaluations which highlighted effects on faculty teaching and student motivation and learning and unexpected benefits. Attendees will be encouraged to imagine how this technology might be used in writing and reading courses.

Eiki Satake, Philip Amato, Emerson College
Introduction to Factor Analysis
Factor analysis is a mathematical tool which can be used to examine a wide range of data sets. It has been used in disciplines as diverse as education, sociology, economics, psychology and the analysis of the performance of all sports. This tutorial seminar is designed to provide a basic understanding of the principles underlying factor analysis with a relevant example to mathematics educators. The focus of the presentation is the analysis of ―factor loading‖ and its ―identification‖. Our primary intention is to introduce the mathematics educators to the basic concept of factor analysis and to demonstrate, using the statistical software package SPSS, how factor analysis can be used in mathematics education research. 

Don Groninger, Maria DeLucia, Middlesex County College (90 minutes) 
NSpire to a Deeper Understanding of Mathematics
This seminar will allow participants to experience college algebra curriculum from a perspective that focuses on mathematical connections and skill development. Participants will be actively involved in problem solving strategies that use TI-Nspire, engage the student in conversation, and provide for differentiated instruction.

Friday 4:30 – 5:15

Daniel Franklin, North Shore Community College
Learning Statistics Through Models of Mind & Brain
The Center for Excellence in Education, Science, and Technology (CELEST), an NSF Science of Learning Center, is developing a unique educational curriculum based upon models of mind, brain, and behavior that integrates science and mathematics. Teachers, administrators, and governments are naturally concerned with how students learn. Students are greatly concerned about how minds work, including how to learn, and thus are motivated to learn. CELEST curricula not only meet current U.S. standards in mathematics, science, and psychology but may influence plans to improve those standards.

Carol Hay, Middlesex Community College, Sharyn Sweeney, Department of Education
Massachusetts Mathematics (PK-12) Curriculum Framework Revision
In the spring of 2008 the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education began the process of revising the 2000 Mathematics Curriculum Framework. The Mathematics Framework Revision Panel has been meeting regularly since April 2008. In February 2009, the suggestions for revision were presented to the Board and the revisions began. The panel members would like to reach out to key mathematics professional organizations and associations to keep everyone updated as well as to hear ongoing feedback about the revision process and the panel's work to date.

Saturday 9:30 – 10:15

Kevin O’Brien, Pearson (Commercial Presentation)
MathXL, MyMathLab, and now, MyMathTest
The Pearson technology Specialist will give an overview of MathXL and MyMathLab, with typical and unique examples of how they are used. He will then review customization options for MathXL and MyMathLab, both as a way to reduce cost to the student, and as a way to better reflect the content needs for a particular school. He will then demonstrate MyMathTest, a non text-specific derivative of the MathXL platform that offers schools and math departments the opportunity to use the MathXL quizzing features and Study Plan to deliver pre and/or post tests with customized study plans and tutorials all at a reduced price. MyMathTest is currently being used in several settings as a low cost online prep solution for students taking the Accuplacer or Compass placement tests. This presentation will be appropriate for both those using MyMathLab and MathXL and those interested in using it in the future. MyMathTest is a new product based on the MathXL platform and will be of interest to anyone interested in issues regarding placement tests and/or exit testing

Carol Hay, Middlesex Community College
Mathematics Across The Curriculum (MAC)
The Math department at Middlesex Community College has received an NSF grant to support a Mathematics Across the Curriculum Initiative. In conjunction with this grant, faculty teams attended a three-day Institute in August, 2008, during which they began to develop interdisciplinary modules to use in their classrooms. Examples of these modules will be presented.

Marsha Pease, Anne O’Shea, North Shore Community College
Something That Works
Presenters will discuss their experiences as past ACCCESS fellows and the benefits of Project ACCCESS for new community college mathematics instructors. Presenters will share lessons and quick activities compiled during their participation in Project ACCCESS sharing sessions with other fellows during the AMATYC conferences from 2004-2008. Lessons and activities range from developmental mathematics to calculus and from low-tech to high-tech. Many of the activities involve few materials and minimal preparation time. Those in attendance will take home a packet of activities; some may even be used in your next class. 

Barry Woods, Unity College
JMP – A Stats Demonstration
JMP – statistics software from SAS – will be demonstrated showing both descriptive and inferential statistics. Data sets from the Triola Statistics Series will be used for the demonstrations. From daily Tips of the Day to online Tutorials, JMP is a complete statistics package for introductory, intermediate, and advanced statistical analyses.

Jozef Sliwkowski, Massachusetts Bay Community College
Math 101- A View From the Bleachers
With anecdotal evidence as the catalyst, a pilot program, miniMAC, was implemented to ascertain the feasible range of improvement in students' basic math skills. The program is: by invitation-only, basic-math intensive using Pearson's MyMathLab as the cornerstone. Outcomes, course structure and recommendations for future program development will be presented.

Saturday 10:30 – 11:15 

Jerry O’Malley, Cengage Learning (Commercial Presentation)
Incorporating Cengage Learning Technology Into Your Math Program
Cengage Learning’s Enhanced WebAssign—the marriage of time-tested content and reliable web architecture—is truly an ideal solution to meet your homework management needs. Building upon the success of WebAssign (founded in 1997 by faculty for faculty), Brooks/Cole Cengage Learning has added its bestselling content to create the most robust, easy-to-use homework management system available. Used by over 1,200,000 students at more than 1,100 schools, WebAssign is reliable and versatile.

Robert Kowalczyk, Adam Hausknecht, University of Massachusetts - Dartmouth
Add Visual Tools to Your Math Tank
Today’s students play and learn in the interactive animated visual worlds of the video iPod and iPhone. How can we, as teachers, bridge this gap between their dynamic worlds and the traditional calculus text? For many years now, we have devoted much of our research time to developing software tools that make calculus come alive for our students. In our presentation, we will demonstrate the use of new dynamic interactive visual tools that we have added to our software that help students to fully engage in learning key calculus concepts and proof. Our software includes visual tools for exploring the following mathematical concepts: limits, continuity, tangents (derivatives), integration, finding zeros of a function, arc length, fitting real-world data, solving applied problems, vector operations, velocity and tangent vectors, curvature, line integrals, first-order differential equations, and much more.

Pamela Cohen, Southern New Hampshire University
Tablet PC’s in The Math Class
In the on-ground classroom, Professor Cohen uses a tablet PC to project class lessons. For on-line classes, she grades assignments using annotation tools. This session will offer an introduction to tablet PC use. Topics include: tablet basics, Windows Journal, importing and exporting documents, ink annotations, and other tablet software.

Lisa Rickel, Hawkes Learning (Commercial Presentation)
All Math Software is not Created Equal: What’s the Difference?
The use of technology has become increasingly implemented in Mathematics courses, but what makes one software system different from another? Hawkes Learning Systems (HLS) is a unique program that is proven to be more effective in improving student performance. Discover how HLS’s differences make it the perfect solution for student success!

Andrew Perry, Springfield College
Evolution of Mathematics Education in America
We will consider major trends in American math education, especially in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Textbooks provide some of the most authentic and reliable clues as to how mathematics was taught. Some notable events include the publication of the first American math book in 1727 by Isaac Greenwood, and the mathematics education reform movement led by Warren Colburn in the early 19th century.

Saturday 1:30 – 2:15

Russell Rushmeier, United States Coast Guard Academy
Developing a Single Core Mathematics Program Serving Both Technical and Non-Technical Majors
Many undergraduate programs wrestle with the challenge of providing a resource efficient mathematics program that addresses the needs of a wide variety of majors. In this talk I will propose a program covering the first two years of mathematics that I hope will serve as a starting point for a lively discussion on the issues and trade-offs involved in any such program. I will start by reviewing some of the considerations that prompted me to develop a different approach to mathematics preparation. I will then present the key features of the proposed program. The design of the topics in the program allows for students to take 2, 3 or 4 of the courses depending on the nature of major and mathematics sophistication required. All the typical Calculus topics are mapped to the popular Anton text for discussion purposes. It is hoped that insights from the discussion can be incorporated in a possible test of this program at the Academy.

Meredith Watts, Robert Cantin, MassBay Community College
Math Success Learning Community
In this learning community, students examine math study skills strategies and apply them to content in the linked math course. In the study skills sessions, students will learn problem solving methods and apply them to the math curriculum, and will have the opportunity to prepare homework problems, projects, and tests. Specific math study skills such as math note-taking, math anxiety and math test-taking are addressed with the aim of increasing student performance in developmental math courses. Presenters will share the design, implementation and results of the pilot program during the fall 2008 semester.

Norma Bisulca, DeAnna McAleer, University of Maine at Augusta
Does He/She REALLY Need to Take That Developmental Course? Maybe, Maybe Not
Learn how the University of Maine at Augusta has implemented a new program, MyMathTest, to give students an opportunity to improve mathematics skills before the semester starts. The presenters will discuss the Mathematics Department’s rationale for implementing the program and the process by which the program was tailored to meet the objectives of the University’s Developmental Mathematics courses. The presenters will also discuss how they partnered with the advising center to provide students with early access to the program. So is the program making a difference? View our data and you make the decision. 

Kenneth Takvorian, Mount Wachusett Community College
Game On: Reviewing for Test With Qwizdom
Come relax, engage your trivia skills, and experience a personal response system by playing a series of interactive games answering trivia questions on a wide variety of topics from sports to math.

Carl Fetteroll, Springfield College
The Key to Success: Interactive Technology in the Classroom
Interactive software promotes increased retention and success for students in Mathematics courses. Students are engaged in learning in both the classroom and outside of class. The impact of software (including Hawkes Learning and MyMathLab) in the curriculum will be explored through discussions of implementation, software options, student feedback and comparisons of student performance.

Saturday 2:30 – 3:15

Denise Robichaud, Quinsigamond Community College
You Too Can YouTube
Do you want to make online videos for your students, but worry it will be too complicated or expensive? Come see an inexpensive and easy solution. With just a webcam and a headset you can put your teaching videos on YouTube for free.

Steve Krevisky, Middlesex Community College
Fill Up Your Tank With the Pythagorean Projection!
Various statistics have been used to evaluate teams and their performances in baseball. We will look at Bill James’ pythagorean projection to see how Boston teams should have done, compared to what they actually did. We use the teams’ runs scored and runs allowed to examine this, for Boston’s best and worst teams since 1901. Intended for teachers of algebra, statistics, and quantitative literacy.

Eiki Satake, Philip Amato, Emerson College
Jury Decision Making: An Alternative Approach of Teaching Conditional Probability and Bayes Rule
This paper presents an alternative approach to the teaching of conditional probability and Bayes' rule, within the context of a hypothetical legal scenario where the defendant is accused of burglarizing the apartment of his ex-girlfriend. Expansion of conditional probability formula and Bayes' rule is illustrated to determine the probability of "legally guilt" following the presentation of several pieces of evidence by the prosecution and one rebuttal piece by the defense. Secondarily, we give a probabilistic interpretation of some key legal phrases such as (1) "beyond a reasonable doubt" and (2) presumption of innocence". Lastly, the growing interest in probabilistic methodologies in recent years, rather than traditional inferential methodologies, among legal professionals, is discussed. 

James Giumarra, James Johanson, Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology
Implementing an Integrated Project-based Approach in a Developmental Program Using the SCATE Technology Gateway Curriculum
This workshop focuses on the implementation of Technology Gateway, a curriculum using an interdisciplinary, project-based approach to teach developmental math and science while providing opportunities for students to develop communication skills. The presenters will address curriculum development, integrated teaching, student learning, assessment, and the values of project-based learning. The workshop includes an in-depth look at one of the projects.

Magdalena Luca, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
College Mathematics and Middle School Mathematics! How Can WE Change It?
The K-12 mathematics curriculum, (in particular the middle school one) its delivery to and assimilation by the students, has a strong impact on teaching mathematics courses in all colleges and universities. In my presentation I will talk about the effects of the K-12 mathematics education on the math curriculum in our college where pharmacy and health sciences degree programs are offered. Furthermore, I will invite all participants to engage in discussing methods available to college professors that could facilitate the process of improving the mathematics we teach in colleges.

Exhibitors & Sponsors 2009

Registration List 2009