Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

College Algebra In Context: A Project Incorporating Social Issues, Michael T. Catalano

Numeracy

This paper discusses the development of an innovative college algebra text designed for use in a data-driven, activity-oriented college algebra course, incorporating realistic problem situations emphasizing social and economic issues, including hunger and poverty, energy, and the environment. The course incorporates quantitative literacy themes, is informed by existing college algebra texts within the college algebra reform movement, and implements a collaborative pedagogical approach intended to provide future K-12 teachers an alternative model for the teaching of mathematics. The paper contains a short history of the project development phase, supported by an NSF grant (DUE #0442979), as well as the perceived …

An Activity Promoting The Practice Of Quantitative Literacy For Pre– And In–Service Teachers Of Mathematics And Science, Timothy L. Sorey, Teri Willard, Duane Sholz

Numeracy

The purpose of this article is to describe a hands-on, laboratory activity that provided pre-service teachers in mathematics and science methods courses, and also some in-service mathematics teachers, with the opportunity to exercise quantitative literacy (QL) skills. The focus of the activity is electrical resistance, more particularly the resistance (in ohms) that is painted on small resistors by the use of color-coded bands, one of which is a band for % error. The activity consists of four parts. In the first, student teams familiarize themselves with the code, measure the ohmage of resistors for which the codes are visible, and …

Exploring Some Inattended Affective Factors In Performing Nonroutine Mathematical Tasks, John Douglas Butler

Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview

Describes students' attempts to solve nonroutine math problems and explores possible correlates of their performance, focusing on inattended (i.e., intentionally avoided) dimensions underrepresented in the literature, including attitudes, interests, values, aesthetics, metacognition, and representation. Analyzes objective and subjective data gathered from a sample of 9th-grade students at a high school in Rhode Island. Finds strong evidence of students' math-aesthetics in problem solving.

Intersection Numbers, Embedded Spheres And Geosphere Laminations For Free Groups., Suhas Pandit Dr.

Doctoral Theses

Topological and geometric methods have played a major role in the study of infinite groups since the time of Poincar´e and Klein, with the work of Nielsen, Dehn, Stallings and Gromov showing particularly deep connections with the topology of surfaces and three-manifolds. This is in part because a surface or a 3-manifold is essentially determined by its fundamental group, and has a geometric structure due to the Poincar´e-K¨obe-Klein uniformisation theorem for surfaces and Thurston’s geometrisation conjecture, which is now a theorem of Perelman, for 3-manifolds.A particularly fruitful instance of such an interplay is the relation between intersection numbers of simple …

Hokua – A Wavelet Method For Audio Fingerprinting, Steven S. Lutz

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, multimedia identification has become important as the volume of digital media has dramatically increased. With music files, one method of identification is audio fingerprinting. The underlying method for most algorithms is the Fourier transform. However, due to a lack of temporal resolution, these algorithms rely on the short-time Fourier transform. We propose an audio fingerprinting algorithm that uses a wavelet transform, which has good temporal resolution. In this thesis, we examine the basics of certain topics that are needed in understanding audio fingerprinting techniques. We also look at a brief history of work done in this field. …

Geometric Characterization Of Digital Objects: Algorithms And Applications To Image Analysis., Arindam Biswas Dr.

Doctoral Theses

Several problems of characterizing a digital object, and particularly, those related to boundary description, have been studied in this thesis. New algorithms and their applications to various aspects of image analysis and retrieval have been reported. A combinatorial technique for constructing the outer and inner isothetic covers of a digital object has been developed. The resolution of the background 2D grid can be changed by varying the grid spacing, and this procedure can be used to extract shape and topological information about the object. Next, an algorithm has been designed for constructing the orthogonal (convex) hull of a digital object …

Grades 7-8 Mean, Median, And Mode, Rich Miller Iii

Math

This lesson is a math lesson for seventh and eighth grade students on mean, medium, and mode. Through this lesson students will be able to understand the measures of central tendency and their definitions, how to calculate them and what steps are involved, and how the theories can be applied on real life. In this lesson, students are tiered by ability and are able to pick a project based off of their interest and the math concept they are working on. Each activity has a tiered task card to guide the students.

Cyclic Shifts Of The Van Der Corput Set, Dmitriy Bilyk

Faculty Publications

In 1980, K. Roth showed that the expected value of the L2 discrepancy of the cyclic shifts of the N-point van der Corput set is bounded by a constant multiple of √logN, thus guaranteeing the existence of a shift with asymptotically minimal L2 discrepancy. In the present paper, we construct a specific example of such a shift.

Versal Deformations Of Leibniz Algebra., Ashis Mandal Dr.

Doctoral Theses

No abstract provided.

Isomorphism Of Schwartz Spaces Under Fourier Transform., Joydip Jana Dr.

Doctoral Theses

Classical Fourier analysis derives much of its power from the fact that there are three function spaces whose images under the Fourier transform can be exactly determined. They are the Schwartz space, the L2 space and the space of all C ∞ functions of compact support. The determination of the image is obtained from the definition in the case of Schwartz space, through the Plancherel theorem for the L 2space and through the Paley-Wiener theorem for the other space.In harmonic analysis of semisimple Lie groups, function spaces on various restricted set-ups are of interest. Among the multitude of these spaces …

The Expectation Of Transition Events On Finite-State Markov Chains, Jeremy Michael West

Theses and Dissertations

Markov chains are a fundamental subject of study in mathematical probability and have found wide application in nearly every branch of science. Of particular interest are finite-state Markov chains; the representation of finite-state Markov chains by a transition matrix facilitates detailed analysis by linear algebraic methods. Previous methods of analyzing finite-state Markov chains have emphasized state events. In this thesis we develop the concept of a transition event and define two types of transition events: cumulative events and time-average events. Transition events generalize state events and provide a more flexible framework for analysis. We derive computable, closed-form expressions for the …

Numerical Solutions For Stochastic Differential Equations And Some Examples, Yi Luo

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, I will study the qualitative properties of solutions of stochastic differential equations arising in applications by using the numerical methods. It contains two parts. In the first part, I will first review some of the basic theory of the stochastic calculus and the Ito-Taylor expansion for stochastic differential equations (SDEs). Then I will discuss some numerical schemes that come from the Ito-Taylor expansion including their order of convergence. In the second part, I will use some schemes to solve the stochastic Duffing equation, the stochastic Lorenz equation, the stochastic pendulum equation, and the stochastic equations which model …

Review Of Calculation Vs. Context: Quantitative Literacy And Its Implications For Teacher Education By Bernard L. Madison And Lynn Arthur Steen (Editors), Maura B. Mast

Numeracy

Madison, Bernard L. and Steen, Lynn Arthur (Eds.). Calculation vs. Context: Quantitative Literacy and Its Implications for Teacher Education. (Washington, DC: Mathematical Association of America, 2009). 197 pp. Softcover. ISBN 978-0-88385-908-7. Available free on the MAA website at http://www.maa.org/ql/calcvscontext.html

The papers in Calculation vs. Context discuss the role of quantitative literacy in the K-12 curriculum and in teacher education. The papers present a varied set of perspectives and address three themes: the changing environment of education in American society; the challenges, and the necessity, of preparing teachers to teach quantitative literacy and of including quantitative literacy in the K-12 education; …

Engaging Math-Avoidant College Students, M. Paul Latiolais, Wendi Laurence

Numeracy

This paper is an informal, personal account of how we, as two college teachers, became interested in math anxiety, decided to explore it amongst students at our institution in order to inform our teaching, and became convinced that the massive problem is math avoidance. We tried discussion groups, but few students attended, although those that did made useful suggestions. Thus informed, we designed an innovative course, Confronting College Mathematics as a Humanities course with the possibility of credit toward the math requirement, but it was undersubscribed in its first offering and had to be canceled. How can we get college …

Measuring Resource Inequality: The Gini Coefficient, Michael T. Catalano, Tanya L. Leise, Thomas J. Pfaff

Numeracy

This paper stems from work done by the authors at the Mathematics for Social Justice Workshop held in June of 2007 at Middlebury College. We provide a description of the Gini coefficient and some discussion of how it can be used to promote quantitative literacy skills in mathematics courses. The Gini Coefficient was introduced in 1921 by Italian statistician Corrado Gini as a measure of inequality. It is defined as twice the area between two curves. One, the Lorenz curve for a given population with respect to a given resource, represents the cumulative percentage of the resource as a function …

A Space Topologized By Functions From Omega To Omega, Akira Iwasa

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

6th Annual Student Scholars’ Expo Of The School Of Mathematics, Engineering, And Business, Messiah College

School of Science, Engineering & Health (SEH) Symposium

Celebrating the scholarly work our students have been engaged in throughout the year.

Σary, Minnesota State University Moorhead, Mathematics Department

Math Department Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Certain Pattern Recognition Tasks Using Genetic Programming., Durga Muni Dr.

Doctoral Theses

No abstract provided.

2009 Sonia Kovalevsky Math For Girls Day Flyer, Association For Women In Mathematics, Lincoln University Of Missouri

Math for Girls Day Documents

4th Annual Lincoln University Sonia Kovalevsky Math for Girls Day program flyer on April 24, 2009.

Distance To The Sagittarius Dwarf Galaxy Using Macho Project Rr Lyrae Stars, Andrea Kunder, Brian Chaboyer

Dartmouth Scholarship

We derive the distance to the northern extension of the Sagittarius (Sgr) dwarf spheroidal galaxy from 203 Sgr RR0 Lyrae stars found in the MACHO database. Their distances are determined differentially with respect to 288 Galactic bulge RR0 Lyrae stars also found in the MACHO data. We find a distance modulus difference of 2.41 mag at l = 5^◦ and b =− 8^◦ and that the extension of the Sgr galaxy toward the galactic plane is inclined toward us. Assuming R GC = 8 kpc, this implies the distance to these stars is (m − M) 0 = …

Math Island At Brewer Elementary School: A Learner-Centered Model For Education, Vikki K. Collins, H. Marguerite Yates

Georgia Educational Researcher

This paper examines a learner-centered model for the teaching of elementary mathematics established at an urban Georgia school that serves a highly mobile, diverse population of approximately 475 students. The school was on its state’s list of schools needing improvement because students continued to perform poorly on standardized tests. Math Island, a support center for students designed to facilitate the conceptual understanding of mathematics, was created, and professional development programs were implemented to assist teachers in developing their pedagogical and content expertise in the teaching of mathematics. The school made substantial progress after these initiatives were employed and was removed …

The Effects Of The Use Of Technology In Mathematics Instruction On Student Achievement, Ron Y. Myers

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the use of technology on students’ mathematics achievement, particularly the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) mathematics results. Eleven schools within the Miami-Dade County Public School System participated in a pilot program on the use of Geometers Sketchpad (GSP). Three of these schools were randomly selected for this study. Each school sent a teacher to a summer in-service training program on how to use GSP to teach geometry. In each school, the GSP class and a traditional geometry class taught by the same teacher were the study participants. Students’ mathematics …

New Neighbors: Parallaxes Of 18 Nearby Stars Selected From The Lspm-North Catalog, Sébastien Lépine, John R. Thorstensen, Michael M. Shara, R. Michael Rich

Dartmouth Scholarship

We present astrometric parallaxes for 18 suspected nearby stars selected from the LSPM-north proper motion catalog. 16 objects are confirmed to be main-sequence M dwarfs within 16 pc of the Sun, including three stars (LSPM J0011+5908, LSPM J0330+5413, and LSPM J0510+2714) which lie just within the 10 pc horizon. Two other targets (LSPM J1817+1328, LSPM J2325+1403) are confirmed to be nearby white dwarfs at distances of 14 and 22 pc, respectively. One of our targets, the common proper motion pair LSPM J0405+7116E + LSPM J0405+7116W, is revealed to be a triple system, with the western component resolved into a pair …

Studies On Construction And List Decoding Of Codes On Some Towers Of Function Fields., M. Prem Laxman Das Dr.

Doctoral Theses

In everyday life, there arise many situations where two parties, sender and receiver, need to communicate. The channel through which they communicate is assumed to be binary symmetric, that is, it changes 0 to 1 and vice versa with equal probability. At the receiver’s end, the sent message has to be recovered from the corrupted received word using some reasonable mechanism. This real life problem has attracted a lot of research in the past few decades. A solution to this problem is obtained by adding redundancy in a systematic manner to the message to construct a codeword. The collection of …

Homogeneous Operators In The Cowen-Douglas Class., Subrata Shyam Roy Dr.

Doctoral Theses

Although, we have used techniques developed in the paper of Cowen-Douglas [18, 20], a systematic account of Hilbert space operators using a variety of tools from several different areas of mathematics is given in the book [26]. This book provides, what the authors call, a sheaf model for a large class of commuting Hilbert space operators. It is likely that these ideas will play a significant role in the future development of the topics discussed here.

Spectral Analysis And Synthesis For Radial Sections Of Homogenous Vector Bundles On Certain Noncompath Riemannian Symmetric Spaces., Sanjoy Pusti Dr.

Doctoral Theses

We consider two classical theorems of real analysis which deals with translation invariant subspaces of integrable and smooth functions on R respectively. The first one is a theorem of Norbert Wiener [63] which states that if the Fourier transform of a function f ∈ L 1 (R) has no real zeros then the finite linear combinations of translations f(x − a) of f with complex coefficients form a dense subspace in L 1 (R), equivalently, span{g ∗ f | g ∈ L 1 (R)} is dense in L 1 (R). This theorem is well known as the Wiener-Tauberian Theorem (WTT). …

Web Surfer Models: Preprocessing, Page Ranking, And Quantitative Evaluation., Narayan L. Bhamidipati Dr.

Doctoral Theses

The World Wide Web [12] (usually referred to as the Web, WWW or W3) is an enormous collection of data available over the Internet, which is a vast network of computers. It was created in the year 1990 by Tim Berners-Lee, while he worked at CERN, Switzerland, and was made available over the Internet in 1991. The World Wide Web Consortium [136] authoritatively defines the Web as the universe of network-accessible information, the embodiment of human knowledge. The Web consists of objects, also called documents or pages in a generic sense, that are identified using a Uniform Resource Identifier (URI), …

Quantitative Literacy On The Web Of Science, 2 – Mining The Health Numeracy Literature For Assessment Items, H L. Vacher, Todd Chavez

Numeracy

A topic search of the Web of Science (WoS) database using the term “numeracy” produced a bibliography of 293 articles, reviews and editorial commentaries (Oct 2008). The citation graph of the bibliography clearly identifies five benchmark papers (1995-2001), four of which developed numeracy assessment instruments. Starting with the 80 papers that cite these benchmarks, we identified a set of 25 papers (1995-2008) in which the medical research community reports the development and/or application of health-numeracy assessments. In all we found 10 assessment instruments from which we have compiled a total of 48 assessment items. There are both general and context-specific …

Establishing The Quantitative Thinking Program At Macalester, David Bressoud

Numeracy

In November 2005, the faculty of Macalester College voted to institute a graduation requirement in Quantitative Thinking (QT) that is truly interdisciplinary. It currently draws on courses from thirteen departments including Anthropology, Economics, Geography, Political Science, Theater, Mathematics, Environmental Science, and Geology. This article describes the process that led to the creation of this program. It explains how we were able to get broad buy-in at the beginning and the long process of trial and error—informed by formative assessment—that was needed to refine the initial vision and shape it into a viable program that would be accepted by most of …