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UIC ASCEND Program: Mathematics Component

Schedule

The workshop meets from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., Monday through Thursday, from June 29 through July 30, 2009. A detailed schedule is available here.

Location

The workshops meet in Rooms 612, 636, and 712 of the Sciences and Engineering Offices building and in the computer lab SEL 2058 on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Staff

The ASCEND Math Staff includes Dibyen Majumdar, Florencio Diaz, and the people who do the real work, our ASCEND TA Team:

Workshop Outline

The workshop will be a mix of different activities:

  • Self-guided work using the ALEKS or Maple computer algebra system (2 hours/week)

The ALEKS system is an interactive computer system that assesses a student's knowledge of mathematical topics and then poses new problems to advance the student's learning. The program constantly measures the student's progress and adapts its problems to its measure of the student's understanding. The ASCEND workshops will use ALEKS as one tool to enable students to work at their own pace and at an appropriate level.

Maple is a powerful symbolic algebra program that can be used to do advanced calculations and create graphical displays. Students with more advanced knowledge of calculus will use Maple as a tool for solving sophisticated problems. This software is installed for use in all ACCC computer labs and is also available for purchase at a discounted price from UIC's E-Sales website.

  • Guided problem sessions (4 hours/week)

The second element of the ASCEND workshops will be two two-hour-long problem sessions per week. These problem sessions will be devoted to group work in solving challenging problems. The group leaders will select appropriate problems and guide the groups in attacking them. These problem sessions are modeled after the ESP Workshops, which are provided during the Fall and Spring semesters for students taking certain mathematics courses.

  • Group Project work (3 hours/week)

The workshop participants will be divided into groups of six students. Each group will be assigned a problem in mathematical modeling and will be expected to develop a presentation on their topic. This work will be presented in a "Math Fair" at the end of the workshops.

  • Mini-lectures (2 hours/week)

Two hours per week will be reserved for mini-lectures on relevant mathematical topics. Past talks have been on such concepts as transfinite numbers, famous mathematical sequences, finance, and mathematical logic. The mini-lecture schedule will be made available here.

Sample Topics

The following mathematical topics will be discussed throughout the program, depending on student interest and level of preparation:

  • Linear equations and models
  • Exponential and logarithmic functions and models
  • Types of numbers and cardinality
  • Time value of money
  • Velocity and acceleration
  • Trigonometry
  • Sequences and series
  • Methods of integration and differentiation
  • Applications of calculus
  • Multivariate calculus

Student Groups

ASCEND participants will be divided into four groups of roughly twelve students: Teams Turing, Noether, Hopper, and Artin. Each team is named after a well-known scientist (in most cases, a mathematician). Group placement is based upon each student's performance on our internally-developed mathematical evaluation.