Attracting and Retaining Students to Mathematics Programs via Outreach 
Sangeeta Gad, University of Houston-Downtown 

Friday morning 

The migration away from the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields starts in middle school and continues until the undergraduate years. We risk our nation's leadership role in the high technology society we have developed if the declining college enrollments in STEM subjects remain unchecked. This session seeks to highlight innovative outreach programs from the higher education institutes to stir interest in mathematics as well as STEM fields and innovative programs to retain students in mathematics programs. The presenters may illustrate 

* Summer or year around programs with middle schools 

* Summer or year around programs for high schools 

* Bridge programs 

* Retention programs in the higher education for currently enrolled students   

It is hoped that presenters will include the impact of the programs measured by the statistical data.  

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Mathematics of Sports and Games 

Howard Lewis Penn, United States Naval Academy 

E. Lee May, Salisbury University 

Friday morning 

The world of sports provides numerous applications that can enliven many mathematics courses, including but not limited to probability, statistics and discrete mathematics. Likewise, many examples exist in various games. The session is seeking applications in board games, card games and quiz shows, among others. Papers that show a connection between mathematics and any of these fields are welcome.   

Emerging Technologies for Mathematics Teaching 

Lila F. Roberts, Georgia College & State University 

Amy F. Kelley, Georgia College & State University 

Friday afternoon 

This session will focus on innovative ways to incorporate emerging technologies into undergraduate mathematics instruction and invites papers that describe implementations and/or assessments of implementations of technologies that were not originally designed or intended for educational purposes. Examples of such technologies include but are not limited to, iPods and other MP3 devices, digital cameras, PDAs, Pocket PCs, or GPS receivers. Speaker proposals should describe at least two of the following: (1) how an emerging technology was implemented into mathematics instruction; (2) the effect of the technology on student learning and/or attitudes toward mathematics; (3) lessons learned in the implementations; (4) assessment strategies for emerging technologies. The session is sponsored by the Committee on Technologies in Mathematics Education (CTiME). 

Current Issues in Mathematics Education  

Carol Vobach, University of Houston-Downtown 

Nancy Leveille, University of Houston-Downtown  

Friday afternoon 

This session invites papers dealing with issues in mathematics education courses for pre-service and in-service teachers at the elementary, middle school and secondary levels. Topics of interest might include: new or nonstandard courses; online courses or activities; community involvement variations such as service learning or online tutoring; alignment of courses to national or state standards; interactions with local universities and/or school districts; courses for master's of arts in teaching programs; grants to support mathematics education programs. In particular, we welcome reports on evaluation and assessment of teacher training programs. It is hoped that a wide variety of presentations will provide interest in topics related to mathematics education. 

Innovative Ideas for Teaching Concepts in an Introductory Statistics Course 

MurrayH. Siegel, Governor's School for Science & Mathematics, Hartsville, South Carolina 

Friday afternoon 

An ever-increasing number of college students are taking introductory statistics courses, and the number of high school students taking Advanced Placement Statistics has been growing at a steady rate. Many of these students have minimal background in statistical concepts.   

* What innovative ideas have been found to enhance learning among these students? 

* Statistical software and hand-held technology can present graphical displays but how are they best utilized?   

* Simulations can provide useful insights or they might be viewed as hands-on activities that make the class "fun" but do not broaden understanding.   

* Journal articles recommend using data drawn from today's newspaper but what criteria should be used in selecting topical data for analysis?   

This session invites papers that highlight innovative ideas that have been effective as well as caveats resulting from those that produced less-than-glowing outcomes. All ideas, activities, and methods should be immediately useful to one teaching Advanced Placement Statistics at a high school or to one teaching an introductory statistics course at a two-year or four-year college or at a university. The session is sponsored by the MAA SIGMAA on Statistical Education. 

Biomathematics in the First Two Years 

Timothy D. Comar, Benedictine University 

Saturday morning 

Reports including BIO 2010: Transforming Undergraduate Education for Future Research Biologists (National Research Council, 2003) and Math and BIO 2010: Linking Undergraduate Disciplines (L. A. Steen, ed., MAA, 2005) emphasize that aspects of biological research are becoming more quantitative and that there are needs to introduce life science students to a greater array of mathematical and computational techniques and to integrate mathematics and biological content at the undergraduate level. This session is designed to highlight successful implementations of biomathematics courses or modules designed for students during their first two years of undergraduate study, efforts to recruit students into biomathematics courses, involvement of these students in biomathematics research, and assessment of how these courses and activities impact the students. Topics may include issues related to the design of biomathematics courses, integration of  

biology into existing mathematics courses, collaborations between mathematicians and biologists that have led to new courses, modules, or undergraduate research projects, collaborations between two-year and four-year institutions, effective use of technology in introductory biomathematics courses, and assessment issues. We seek presenters from two-year institutions, liberal arts colleges, and universities of all sizes. We encourage submissions from teams of mathematicians and biologists. The session is sponsored by the MAA SIGMAA on Computational and Mathematical Biology.  

Graph Theory and Applications 

Ralucca Michelle Gera, Naval Postgraduate School 

Richard M. Low, San Jose State University 

Saturday morning 

This is a standard graph theory session. Graph theory provides mathematical abstraction of situations that can model pairwise relations between objects. Some of the topics of interest are counting problems, coloring problems, topological problems, distance in graphs, labeling, oriented graphs, algorithms, trees, as well as applications to related fields. In the context of this theme, we solicit original contributions in all relevant areas of Graph Theory, including but not limited to: graph coloring, route problems, covering problems, optimization of network flows and transportation, domination in graphs and digraphs, algebraic graph theory, Ramsey theory, spectral graph theory, and complexity. 

Getting Students to Discuss and to Write about Mathematics 

Murphy Waggoner, Simpson College 

Saturday afternoon 

This session invites papers about assignments and projects that require students to communicate mathematics through oral presentations, classroom discussions and writing. These assignments/projects can come from any area of mathematics including courses for mathematics or related majors, mathematics service courses or mathematics education courses. Each presenter is encouraged to discuss how the use of the assignment/project helped students to improve their understanding of mathematics, their communication of mathematics, and their attitude toward mathematics. Of particular interest are innovative implementations of such assignments/projects including peer review of student writing or presentations, using mathematical writing or presentations as part of service learning, rubrics for assessing student writing and presentations, using student writing or oral presentations as part of program assessment, and programs to help students improve written and oral communication of mathematics. 

Mathematics and the Arts 

Douglas E. Norton, Villanova University 

Saturday afternoon 

This session invites presentations of results on the connections between mathematics and the arts: from geometry to origami to group theory on quilts, from perspective in paintings to patterns and plane tilings, from music to maps, stitching to symmetries, tessellations to textual analysis, weaving fabrics to fashioning words, dance to decorative arts, theater and film to theorems and fractals, beadwork to baskets to batiks to Bessel functions, architecture to academic applications of the arts in algebra. We invite explorations of old and new connections, from ancient Islamic tilings to contemporary folk arts to sculptures of mathematical structures, as well as the use of new technologies to illustrate links between mathematics and the various arts. Mathematical concepts inform artistic presentation, while artistic presentation can illuminate mathematics. New technologies often provide new possibilities. Altogether, new approaches, new tools, and new looks at old examples provide new opportunities for working with and teaching mathematics, as well as providing modes of outreach to the general public about the often under-appreciated place of mathematics in relation to the arts, culture, and society. The session is sponsored by the MAA SIGMAA on Mathematics and the Arts. 

Fun and Innovative Teaching Techniques for an Abstract Algebra Class 

Sharon Clarke, Pepperdine University 

Andrew Hetzel, Tennessee Tech University 

Saturday afternoon 

Abstract algebra is, in many cases, one of the first "rigorous proofs" courses that an undergraduate student will take. As a result, students are sometimes intimidated by this course and find it difficult to make the transition from computational mathematics to abstract mathematics. This session will focus on fun and innovative ways of teaching some of the topics covered in an abstract algebra course. This session is a follow-up to our very well-received session of the same title at MathFest. 

Teaching Calculus in High School: Ideas that Work 

Dan Teague, North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics 

Susan Schwartz Wildstrom, Walt Whitman High School 

Sunday morning 

Most mathematics majors now have the opportunity to take their introductory calculus course while in high school. SIGMAA TAHSM is committed to assisting teachers in making the mathematical experiences of their students as challenging and exciting as possible. This session will serve as a forum in which to share activities and approaches to teaching calculus that work well with high school students. Of particular interest are projects and investigations, activities, demonstrations, teaching strategies and techniques that bring the class and the mathematics to life for the students. The session is sponsored by the MAA SIGMAA on Teaching Advanced High School Mathematics.  

Student Research in Industrial Mathematics 

Bem Cayco, San Jose State University 

Tim Hsu, San Jose State University 

Sunday morning 

In recent years, several colleges and universities have started programs to give students the opportunity to do research on problems in the mathematical sciences coming from industry, government agencies, and businesses. In this session, we invite faculty and students to describe their experiences with student industrial research at a variety of institutions.  Specifically, we invite presentations from (1) faculty, describing what it is like to supervise student industrial research, especially research done by teams of students, and (2) students, describing how industrial research programs changed their view of mathematics and affected their mathematical careers. (Please note that student presentations on their actual research should instead be submitted to the contributed paper session on student research). 

Challenges and Successful Strategies in Teaching a Numerical Analysis Course  

Olga Brezhneva, Miami University, Ohio 

Sunday morning 

Teaching a numerical analysis course is a challenge. Students taking numerical analysis usually have a variety of majors, backgrounds and levels of preparation prior to the course. Moreover, students coming to the course have varying expectations and interests. Faced with these challenges, the instructor seeks teaching strategies that motivate student learning, benefit all students attending the course, and enrich student knowledge of both mathematics and computations. The session invites presentations on all aspects of teaching numerical analysis: challenges, strategies, projects, demonstrations, innovative techniques, and fun activities.  

Teaching a History of Mathematics Course 

Joel Haack, University of Northern Iowa 

Amy Shell-Gellasch, Pacific Lutheran University 

Sunday afternoon 

More and more college mathematics teachers with little or no background in the history of mathematics are being asked to teach a history of mathematics course. This contributed papers session presents ideas for developing and teaching a history of mathematics course. We encourage discussion of courses aimed at all levels as well as general and topic specific courses. This session is a follow up to a session held at the JMM in 2004. The session is sponsored by the MAA SIGMAA on the History of Mathematics. 

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Advances in Recreational Mathematics 

Paul R. Coe, Dominican University 

Kristen Schemmerhorm, Dominican University 

Sunday afternoon 

There have been many recent advances in recreational mathematics. For the purposes of this session, the definition of recreational mathematics will be a broad one. The primary guideline used to determine suitability of a paper will be the understandability of the mathematics. For example, if the mathematics in the paper is commonly found in graduate programs, then it would probably be considered unacceptable. Novel applications as well as new approaches to old problems are welcome. Solutions using computers are also welcome. Examples of use of the material in the undergraduate classroom are encouraged. 

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General Contributed Paper Sessions

Sarah J. Mabrouk, Framingham State College

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings and afternoons 

Papers may be presented on any mathematically related topic. This session is designed for papers that do not fit into one of the other sessions. Papers that fit in into one of the other sessions should be sent to that organizer, not to this session.