Fun Math For Girls

By Natalie Shell Consider this school-themed math problem: 10 students are at their school dance. If each student dances with each other student once, how many combinations are there? Now, if everyone wants to dance with the popular girl twice (note that this girl is popular because of her dazzling intellect), how many more combinations will...

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No One-Size-Fits-All: Participation in the Mathematics Classroom

By Megumi Asada and Pamela E. Harris How many of us continue to use participation as a percentage of final course grades? How much do we weigh the value of participation in the learning process as grades are assigned? In this process of assigning participation grades, what equity issues arise that we are not aware...

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Stop Making My Class So Hard to Teach

by Tim Chartier @timchartier I look forward to the energy of the first day of class. There is hope in students' eyes as to what the term will offer.  But, this term is different. For the first time as I walk into the fall, I am bracing myself for a skeptical or even pessimistic classroom. Why? I'm teaching...

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Fibonacci in Pictures

by Keith Devlin @profkeithdevlin With colleges and universities currently either struggling with plans to re-open their campuses to new and returning students or else gearing up to deliver at least the first term of instruction remotely, it is clear we are living in a very different world than just a year ago. Indeed, different from...

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Paying Attention to our International Students

By: David Bressoud @dbressoud David Bressoud is DeWitt Wallace Professor Emeritus at Macalester College and Director of the Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences The August 7, 2020 issue of Science ends with a moving contribution from Ruofan Yu, a postdoc from China who spoke of the incredible stress that she and all international students...

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5th Annual PIC Math Student Showcase Pivots Online For An Exciting Two-Day Event

The MAA Preparation for Industrial Careers in Mathematics (PIC Math) program prepares mathematical sciences students for a wide range of careers post graduation. Students are presented with a real-life problem from business, industry, or government (BIG) and have the opportunity to work in groups over the semester to solve the problem. At the conclusion of...

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Preparing Graduate Students to Teach Undergraduate Mathematics

By: Erin R. Moss, Co-Editor of DUE Point, Millersville University of Pennsylvania The College Mathematics Instructors Development Source (CoMInDS) project supports colleges in providing high-quality professional development to graduate Teaching Assistants (TAs). The work of the CoMInDS team addresses the unique needs of faculty Providers who are tasked with either creating or redesigning departmental programs...

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Three Ways to Respect and Support Your Introverted Colleagues

By Anonymous VITAL faculty, TJ Murphy, and Rachel Levy Remember when people were first asked to stay at home due to COVID-19? So many people expressed loneliness, boredom, anxiety, and other results of the forced reduction of in-person social interaction. In response, there was an outpouring of empathy, songs and memes, and multiple opportunities for online interactions. For...

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A 5-Step Process for Preparing for Fall Teaching

By: Carrie Diaz Eaton, Associate Professor of Digital and Computational Studies, Bates College, @mathprofcarrie When I talk to colleagues about preparing for fall*, it all feels more overwhelming than in the past. So I took a step back and thought: how could I break this daunting task down into just a few steps? I hope the...

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A Glance in the Rearview Mirror While Driving MAA Periodicals Forward

By: Bonnie Ponce, MAA Managing Editor, Journals 3 Years of Partner Publishing with Taylor & Francis GroupIn 2018 the Mathematical Association of America chose a new path for their MAA Periodicals by partnering with Taylor & Francis Group. We ventured on this path in 2016 when it was clear that the landscape of scholarly publishing...

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