October:    Focus on Undergraduate Math and CS Education 
                2nd: Brian Felkel, Dept. of Math, Appalachian State University.
                ``Lights, Camera, Learn: Business Calculus at ASU and Using Screen Capture Video''
                    Tea and Treats: 3:45-4:00; Talk: 4:00-5:00. Stillwell 242.

Title:
Lights, Camera, Learn:
Business Calculus at ASU and Using Screen Capture Video

Description:
Two fundamental problems that students struggle with are learning how to
use technology and learning material missed because of an absence.
Instructors also struggle with these two issues in the sense that we do not
want to spend too much time explaining syntax to the detriment of class
content, and we also do not want our students to fall behind.  Also,
Business Colleges around the U.S. have been dropping or threatening to drop
Business Calculus as a requirement, because they claim that it does not
correctly meet the needs of their majors.

We will see what has been done at ASU to address these problems.  We use
Excel and Maple extensively in our Business Calculus classes, and we use an
“active” text (the text is on a CD).  The text contains hyperlinks to
exercise solution sets, to large data files, and to video tutorials.  We
will discuss the text, how these videos were made, and what students have
told us about this approach.
 
 

                      21st: David R. Luginbuhl, Dept. of Math and CS, WCU.
                ``Using Memory Diagrams for Assessment of Student Comprehension of Object-Oriented Programs"
                        Tea and Treats: 3:45-4:00; Talk: 4:00-5:00. Stillwell 242

ABSTRACT: Understanding the execution of an object-oriented program can be a challenge for a student starting a CS1 course.  We believe that a type of diagram that we call memory diagrams can both aid the student in understanding object-oriented programming and aid the instructor in assessing the student's understanding.
 
 

Memory diagrams focus on how, in an abstract sense, the memory of the machine changes as the program executes. Though memory diagrams are a simple idea, by careful use of shape and placement, a number of key points about the meaning of a program fragment can be conveyed visually. After introducing memory diagrams we first discuss how they can be used in qualitative assessment of student comprehension of object-oriented programs. We then present some preliminary work on evaluating their use in quantitative assessment. We conclude with plans for future work. This work was done jointly with Mark Holliday.

April:
            22nd: Leslie Hatfield, Dept. of Math, Lynchburg College, Lynchburg, VA.
                    ``Designs and Codes"
In this talk, we will look at the connection between designs and codes.  In addition, we will demonstrate applications of these ideas to game strategies.  This talk should be really accessible to students of all mathematical backgrounds. 
 
 
 

           28th:  Ivor Grattan-Guinness, Emeritus Professor of the History of Mathematics
                     and Logic, Middlesex University, England.
                      “History and Heritage in the Development of the Calculus.”

See the January, 2004 issue of the American Mathematical Monthly for an article by Professor Grattan-Guinness on this topic. Professor Grattan-Guinness will be giving this talk as a WCU Visiting Scholar.
 
 

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Last Modified: October 1, 2003