UR SIGMAA Newsletters

Wednesday January 15, 2020,  6:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.  DCC Room 601

SIGMAA UR Panel: Students’ Perspectives on Undergraduate Research Experiences

Moderator: 

Maria Mercedes Franco, Queensborough Community College, CUNY

Panelists:

* Amelia Cantwell, University of Montana

* Vinny Jodoin, University of Tennessee

* Natasha Crepeau, Harvey Mudd

* Harold Jimenez Polo, University of Florida

* Mr. Esteban Escobar, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona 

Organizers: 

* Allison Henrich, Seattle University

* Laramie Paxton, Marian University–Wisconsin

* Maria Mercedes Franco Queensborough Community College, CUNY

Abstract:

If you’re a faculty member with an interest in pursuing research with undergraduates, you may have a number of questions on your mind. For instance, what do students gain by doing an undergraduate research experience? What are some challenges they might encounter when doing research with a faculty member and, perhaps, a group of their peers? What are particular issues you should be aware of that students from underrepresented minority groups face? How might you, as a research mentor, make the experience a positive one for your students? 

On the other hand, if you’re a student considering doing research in mathematics, you might wonder what doing research for the first time is like. How can you prepare yourself for the experience? What tools might you use to overcome hurdles you encounter along the research path? How might doing research help you achieve your personal goals?

One of the best ways to learn the answers to these questions is by talking to people who have actually had research experiences as students. In this panel, current and former undergraduate researchers will reflect on their experiences, discuss what worked well, what didn’t, and how research experiences could be improved.

Thursday January 16, 2020, 6:00 p.m.-6:30 p.m. DCC Room 507. 

SIGMAA on Undergraduate Research (SIGMAA UR) Business Meeting and Reception 

Colorado Chile Bar (vegan & vegetarian options) provided.

Thursday January 16, 2020, 6:40 p.m.-7:30 p.m. DCC Room 507

SIGMAA UR Guest Speaker: Dr. Maria Mercedes Franco

Speaker: 

Maria Mercedes Franco, Queensborough Community College, CUNY

Title: 

Reflections on Diversity and Undergraduate Research

Abstract: 

The speaker will share insights gained from a wide range of experiences mentoring undergraduate research students. These experiences include roles as GRA, faculty mentor, and program director; working with students from 2- and 4-year colleges/universities; and facilitating or personally engaging them in summer, course-based or academic year research. What these experiences have in common is also what attracted the speaker to them: they all  address issues of underrepresentation in the mathematical sciences or, more broadly, in STEM.

2:15 p.m.-2:45 p.m. DCC Room 702

The Dolciani Award Lectures: Joseph Gallian

 "The Current State of Undergraduate Research in Mathematics in the U.S."

5:00 pm. DCC Room 601

REU Director’s Meeting – open to all past, current, and future REU Directors.

9:00 a.m.-10:20 a.m.

DCC Room 605

MAA Workshop:  Generating Ideas of Undergraduate Research Projects

2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. 

DCC Hall D

MAA Poster Session: Projects Supported by the NSF Division of Undergraduate Education

2:00 p.m.

DCC Room 206

Using group-like interactions to motivate undergraduate research projects. Meghan M. De Witt*, St. Thomas Aquinas College (1154-20-1876)

2:35 p.m.-3:55 p.m.

DCC Room 601

MAA Panel: Strengthening Undergraduate Research Through Community Building

8:00 a.m.-10:50 a.m.

DCC Room 112

AMS-MAA Special Session on Getting Started in Undergraduate Research: Topics, Tools and Open Problems, I

1:00 p.m.-5:50 p.m.

DCC Room 112

AMS-MAA Special Session on Getting Started in Undergraduate Research: Topics, Tools and Open Problems, II

1:15 p.m.- 1:25 p.m.

DCC Room 602

Successful and sustainable undergraduate research in statistics through vertical integration of experience and horizontal integration of disciplines. Audrey E Hendricks*, University of Colorado Denver (1154-97-102)

2:30 p.m. - 2:40 p.m.

DCC Room 602

Impacts of a cross-institutional undergraduate research experience workshop on student understanding of and self-efficacy for research. Megan Olivia Powell*, University of North Carolina Asheville.  Angela Antonou, University of St. Francis. Sara Liesman, Illinois State University. (1154-97-1356)

4:30 p.m.-6:00 p.m.

DCC Hall D

MAA Student Poster Session

Check out A Mathematician’s Practical Guide to Mentoring Undergraduate Research

Authors: Michael Dorff: Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, 

Allison Henrich: Seattle University, Seattle, WA, 

Lara Pudwell: Valparaiso University, Valparaiso, IN

A complete how-to manual on starting an undergraduate research program. Readers will find advice on setting appropriate problems, directing student progress, managing group dynamics, obtaining external funding, publishing student results, and a myriad of other relevant issues. The authors have decades of experience and have accumulated knowledge that other mathematicians will find extremely useful.  Purchase the book today! https://bookstore.ams.org/clrm-63

Feel free to share this announcement with others who are interested in Undergraduate Research.  To join SIGMAA-UR visit MAA