Articulating our Assumptions: A short math classroom exercise

By Carrie Diaz Eaton Hi friends! This semester, for the first time, I am teaching a first-year seminar course. Many small institutions may have this sort of course, where first semester students can gain an introduction to the college and also to an interesting topic at the same time. The first-year course I am teaching...

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The “wicked problems” problem, recycled

By Keith Devlin @profkeithdevlin The mathematics of bicycle riding. It’s more complicated than this. Photograph by Michael Steele/Pool/Reuters, with overlaid graphics by Gerd Altmann/Pixabay.com I’ve written on this blog before about the false impression math educators can leave their graduates with, by focusing entirely on tightly constrained and carefully crafted problems, devoid of context, that...

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Reflections on Five Years as Director of CBMS

By: David Bressoud @dbressoud David Bressoud is DeWitt Wallace Professor Emeritus at Macalester College and, for a few more days, Director of the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences In January 2017, Kelly Chapman and I took over from Ron Rosier and Lisa Kolbe at the helm of the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences....

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Wherever you go, leave that place better than you found it

By Alicia Prieto Langarica I was very close to my grandparents while I was growing up. They made an incredible impact on who I am and what I value. Hildeliza, my maternal grandmother, frequently told me, “Wherever you go, leave that place better than how you found it.” Alicia Prieto Langarica Youngstown State University (YSU)...

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Mathematical Art: A Place to Start

By Frank A. Farris Frank A. Farris Mathematical art is everywhere these days. If you’ve been wondering how to get involved, I have an idea for you, a way to start making your own art today. You can involve your students too, especially if your course has anything to do with geometry. The heavy lifting...

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Engaging Students with a Desmos Art Project

By Libardo Valencia, Horace Greeley High School and CUNY Lehman College Libardo Valencia Working as a math educator for the past twelve years has taught me that an effective way to engage students is by giving them choice in how they demonstrate mastery of their learning. This past school year, as many other teachers, I...

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Geometry Telephone: Designing a Math Course with Inclusive Education Principles

By Melinda Lanius, Assistant Professor, Auburn University Melinda Lanius How do you effectively teach visual geometry asynchronously online to a student with a visual impairment? How do you effectively relay mathematics via one-way telephone? While this question might be an interesting thought experiment for most educators, it was a very real and intimidating question posed...

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Mentoring Math Scholars for Success (M^2S^2)

By DUE Point Lead Editor, Audrey Malagon, Virginia Wesleyan University Since they were hired together at California State University, Fresno, Carmen Caprau, Tamás Forgács, and Oscar Vega have chatted about ways to better support their students. They’ve worked on many projects together, and a few years ago decided to pursue an NSF S-STEM grant with...

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Testimonios: Dr. Selenne Bañuelos

Testimonios, a new publication from MAA/AMS, brings together first-person narratives from the vibrant, diverse, and complex Latinx and Hispanic mathematical community. Starting with childhood and family, the authors recount their own particular stories, highlighting their upbringing, education, and career paths. Testimonios seeks to inspire the next generation of Latinx and Hispanic mathematicians by featuring the...

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Mathematics and Dance: An Interview with Nancy Scherich

By Allison Henrich, with Nancy Scherich AH: Can you tell me about how you got interested in dance? NS: I was brought up watching musicals from the Golden Age of Hollywood. I was probably one of the few children in the 1990s whose favorite celebrities were Fred Astair and Elenor Powell. For as long as...

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