South County Times

At JMM 2023, Professional Enhancement Programs (PEPs) provided professional development on a number of mathematical topic areas, from pedagogy to programming to artistic perspective.

Participants in the PEP "Using Your Voice for Influence and Impact: Incorporating Mathematics into Public Discourse."Photo courtesy Francis Su

The eight PEPs drew 136 participants, who registered in advance and paid a small fee to enroll.

I sat in on three PEPs to see learning in action.

PEP #10: Visualizing Projective Geometry Through Photographs and Perspective Drawings

It was obvious that this course would be hands-on when Annalisa Crannell (Franklin and Marshall College) handed out class materials: rulers, packets of paper, pencils, and erasers.

Crannell and Fumiko Futamura (Southwestern University) had tandem-taught this course several times before, to groups of as many as several dozen students.

No artistic experience is required to attend. The class uses practical art puzzles in perspective drawing and photography to inspire the mathematics of projective geometry.

“In particular,” the syllabus notes, “we use a geometrical analysis of Renaissance art and of photographs taken by students to motivate several important concepts in projective geometry, including Desargues's Theorem and the use of numerical projective invariants.”

Or as Crannell said in class, “Think of a shadow as being a function,” as participants diligently sketch vanishing points and 3D letters.

Discovery was crucial to the learning experience, Crannell and Futamura said.

“When we presented one of our favorite problems about drawing letters, one participant suggested a computation approach to solution that, at first seemed improbable,” Crannell said. “A second participant suggested a geometric solution that helped with a proof that the first solution was in fact correct, and the combination of those two solutions led to fascinating generalizations that we, the organizers, hadn't thought of before. So much fun! And very rewarding.”

Futamura added, “I agree, what Annalisa described was an exciting moment for all of us! This is an accessible and intriguing problem with a number of creative solutions, so our participants often experience the joy of discovery.

"After years of teaching this and thinking we've seen every possible solution, it was especially wonderful that Annalisa and I got to experience that same joy of discovery this time around!”

The PEP was also a chance for a range of mathematical scientists to come together and learn in person after several years of cancelled and virtual gatherings.

“It was great to solve problems in community again,” Crannell said.

PEP #4: Inclusive Active Learning in Undergraduate Academics

Skill-building aptly described this course, presented by Nancy Kress (University of Colorado at Boulder), Rebecca Machen (University of Colorado at Boulder), Antonio Martinez (California State University Long Beach), Wendy Smith (University of Nebraska-Lincoln), and Matt Voigt (Clemson University).

Even the dynamic classroom methods that the instructors used with their faculty-level students at JMM would be replicable in an undergraduate setting.

“We’re going to organize in visibly random groups, which is an effective strategy to use,” Smith said to the 23-person class, seated at round tables throughout a hotel conference room.

“And you’re going to move again, so the groups will change,” she said. “Why are we doing this? To foster a sense of student belonging. This is critical for them [undergraduates] to have, to be able to stick it through. Student belonging is critical to STEM.”

Another classroom tip from the instructors: On the first day, have students introduce themselves in order to hear the actual pronunciation of their names, instead of a teacher guessing and fumbling through an attendance list.

During the PEP, discussing the unconscious bias of the phrase “you guys” raised a few hackles. “But girls say that. All the time,” said a class member.

Replied Smith, “Students don’t receive it as meaning all of them, even if it’s what’s intended.”

An animated discussion began with the premise, “Have you ever experienced or witnessed a microaggression?”

“Everyone has experienced this once in a while,” one male class member said, slightly dismissive.

“During my career, absolutely!” countered his tablemate, also male. “The way I look, the way I sound, the Indian accent.”

“Who decides?” said Classmate 1. “If you tell me my English is really good, I take it as a compliment.”

“Even if it wouldn’t bother you personally, it might bother students,” a third classmate said.

The tablemate agreed. “A microaggression is based on their experiences in their past,” he said. “How it lands is going to be at their individual level.”

“I grew up in an environment of microaggressions,” another classmate shared. “All. The. Time.”

“Death by one thousand paper cuts,” Smith said, adding that if an incident happens in front of the whole class, the instructor should address it in front of the whole class, then follow up independently with the affected student.

“Inclusive Active Learning” included the extensive use of skill-building videos and role-playing of scenarios from classroom-level to department-level. “We definitely want you to try this at home!” Kress said. “And share with your colleagues.”

PEP #6: Using Your Voice for Influence and Impact: Incorporating Mathematics into Public Discourse

From gerrymandering to the Super Bowl, a wide range of current events are ripe for mathematicians’ unique expertise and perspective.

This principle fueled this PEP, in which math faculty members and graduate students learned how to draft an opinion piece for a newspaper or other non-academic publication.

Versions of this course have been taught since pre-pandemic times by Francis Su (Harvey Mudd College) and Kira Hamman (Penn State Mont Alto), each of whom has a distinguished record of publishing opinion pieces. Hamman writes a regular column for her local paper in Pennsylvania, while Su has published timely op-eds in newspapers such as the Los Angeles Times and Sacramento Bee.

Communicating with a mainstream audience in a media outlet requires quite a different skill set than writing an academic paper. The writing process is almost entirely flipped. A newspaper column front-loads the important points, Su explained, rather than spending 25 pages to arrive at a conclusion. The news world moves much more quickly than academia, so deadlines are short. “And the news hook cannot be underestimated,” said panelist Rafe Jones (Carleton College).

Panelist Audrey Malagon (Virginia Wesleyan University), described her experience of taking Su and Hamman’s writing course in 2018. “I decided, I could share what I know, or I could keep it to myself.” The opinion piece she crafted during that session was published in the Virginian-Pilot daily newspaper and led to an avalanche of opportunities for her, from writing to public-policy work.

By the end of the course, each of the 11 participants had drafted an opinion piece peer-edited by classmates and reviewed by the instructors. With more editing, some motivation, and a little luck, these columns might appear in print.

PEPs – What's Next?

PEPs will return for JMM 2024, said Catherine Roberts, AMS executive director.

“As we reimagined JMM, the math community expressed a desire for the meetings to include more professional development opportunities,” she said. “PEPs offer varied topics, suggested and presented by members of the community.

“We look forward to expanding those topics to help attendees develop professionally in wide-ranging ways.”

Original source can be found here.