Events for March 2008
If there are any Math/CS events that you would like posted on this calendar, please contact Kevin Hartshorn (hartshorn@moravian.edu).
Monday, March 10, 2008
4:00 PM to 4:45 PM
Math Society E-talk
Math/CS Common area
Epsilon talks are short 15-30 minute talks about a particular topic in mathematics and sometimes computer science. They are given by both students and professors who have a short topic to present. If your math professor has culture point requirements this is a great way to help fulfill that. Epsilon talks are of course open to anyone who wants to attend so we encourage everyone with an interest in math to join in.
Light refreshments funded by USG.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
6:30 PM to 8:00 PM
Pizza 'n' Puzzles
232 PPHAC
Sushi & Origami
Together with the International studies office
Each spring, Moravian College hosts several Japanese students studying to be teachers. This year, they will share some structures and patterns in origami. We will learn a few origami techniques and look at some geometric ideas that can be gained through origami design.
All are welcome to this joint activity of the Mathematics/Computer Science Department and the International Studies Office!
In the meantime, a query: A compass is used to draw a circle on a plane. Then, with no change in the opening, the compass is used to draw a circle on a sufficiently large sphere (such as a beach ball). Which is greater, the area of the circle in the plane or the area of that portion of the sphere enclosed by the circle on the sphere?
9:00 PM to 10:00 PM
Cheesesteak Night
Starter's Pub
If you've never heard of cheesesteak night, the computer science department heads to Starters' pub (the old one) on the second Wednesday of every month for $2 cheesesteaks and fun. The math department and anyone in a math or computer science class are invited to join us!
If you are planning to go but need a ride, please E-mail me (Wes) and let me know. We will be meeting at 8:40 in the CS Lab (PPHAC-114), if you would like to meet us there plan to get to Starters' at 9:00.
Friday, March 14, 2008
3:30 PM to 5:00 PM
Pi day!
Math/CS common area
A celebration of 3.14159265358979323846264338327950288. . .
While the "official" Pi-day is 1:59 on March 14 (3.14 1:59), we will be celebrating the occasion at 3:30pm in the Math/CS common area.
Come join the Math Society as we celebrate one of the most important constants in mathematics. All are welcome to share in pi and pie.
Monday, March 17, 2008
4:00 PM to 4:45 PM
Math Society E-talk
Math/CS Common area
Epsilon talks are short 15-30 minute talks about a particular topic in mathematics and sometimes computer science. They are given by both students and professors who have a short topic to present. If your math professor has culture point requirements this is a great way to help fulfill that. Epsilon talks are of course open to anyone who wants to attend so we encourage everyone with an interest in math to join in.
Light refreshments funded by USG.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
11:30 AM to 12:30 PM
Math/CS Colloquium
Ethnomathematics: Reflections on a cultural approach to mathematics
Kevin Hartshorn
The term "Ethnomathematics" is fairly new, introduced in 1977 by the Brazilian mathematician Alberto D'Ambrosio. For better and for worse, it has been caught up in the whirlwind of mathematical education reform both in the United States and around the world. In this talk, I will introduce the field of ethnomathematics with several examples of ethnomathematical study. By the end of the talk, I hope to provide a sense of the research done in this new field of study as well as the role it should and should not play in undergraduate general education.
Lunch (likely pizza) will be provided at the beginning of the talk.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
4:00 PM to 5:00 PM
CS Colloquium
PPHAC 232
Engaging students in a process of inquiry and discovery in the CS classroom
Sun Chung (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
Single round-robin tournament is a mode of competition in which each participant plays every other participant exactly once. In this talk, I will present a treatment of the problem of scheduling matches for a single round robin tennis tournament in the classroom. The classroom activities include understanding the problem, finding an algorithm to solve it, and implementing the algorithm in a programming language. For understanding the problem, a three-step procedure of “observe, hypothesize, and verify” is used. Also used, for both understanding and solving the problem, is “abstraction,” which allows us to redefine the scheduling problem as the problem of systematically producing a complete graph with as many vertices as the number of participants in the tournament. Finally, some implementation details are discussed before students begin writing pseudocode for a computer program to produce a solution for any given number of participants. The ultimate goal of the classroom activities is to help students take the initiative in a process of inquiry and discovery.
Monday, March 31, 2008
4:00 PM to 4:45 PM
Math Society E-talk
Math/CS Common area
Epsilon talks are short 15-30 minute talks about a particular topic in mathematics and sometimes computer science. They are given by both students and professors who have a short topic to present. If your math professor has culture point requirements this is a great way to help fulfill that. Epsilon talks are of course open to anyone who wants to attend so we encourage everyone with an interest in math to join in.
Light refreshments funded by USG.