Sonia Kovalevsky Mathematics Days
From AWM Newsletter, Vol. 30, No. 2, March-April 2000.
The Sonia Kovalevsky High School Mathematics Days below were funded by a grant awarded to AWM by Coppin State University, Microsoft Corporation, the National Security Agency, and the Office of Naval Research. Home institutions also provided support. Hearty thanks to all the funding agencies!
Central Missouri State University
Directors: Rhonda McKee, Martha Diehl, Sue Sundberg
Central Missouri State University held its first Sonia Kovalevsky High School Mathematics Day on October 5, 1999. Fifty-one students and 14 teachers attended the event and seemed to thoroughly enjoy the day.
The day started with registration and refreshments. The group was welcomed to campus by Central's Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dr. Kyle Carter. Then it was off to the first workshop session. The students chose from three workshops: “Motion, Math and the Calculator-Based Laboratory” led by Cathy Battles of Lee's Summit High School; “Let's Solve a Cipher System” led by Madonna Chernesky of the National Security Agency, and “Jessica and the Case of the Cooling Body (or How Can You Tell How Long a Math Professor Has Been Dead?)” led by Anita Salem of Rockhurst University. The teachers also attended a workshop during this time, “Applying Mathematics (Calculator-Based Laboratories)” led by Terry Goodman of Central.
After a brief refreshment break, the students formed teams of two or three for the problem-solving competition. The problems were tough, but the students were up to the challenge. Their teachers gathered in a separate room to visit and give the problems a try for themselves. At 11:00 the students chose a second workshop to attend while their teachers attended the workshop “Making Mathematics More Accessible to Females” led by Cindy Ramey and Sue Sundberg of Central.
The afternoon provided to be just as busy and interesting as the morning. During lunch, Beth Hilbish, a Central Student, gave a wonderful report about Sonia Kovalevsky and her struggles as a female mathematician of the 19th century. After lunch, the group took tours of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science. They saw demonstrations in a computer lab and an electronic classroom, and they visited the mathematics library, where Ed Davenport, chair of the department, spoke to the students about programs offered by the department.
Four panelists spoke and answered questions during the career panel discussion. The panelists were Ann Sharp, an actuary from William M. Mercer Consulting Firm; Madonna Chernesky, a mathematician from the National Security Agency; Lillian Cooper, a manager in information technology from Allied Signal; and Rhonda McKee, a professor of mathematics at Central.
The day ended with a reception to honor all participants. Students and teachers were presented with certificates, and the winners of the problem-solving competition were given prizes, including t-shirts, key chains and calculators. One calculator was given away in a drawing.
Everyone involved seemed to have a great time. One student summed up her experience this way: “Having a math day really helped me understand math more and made me realize how many different careers there are in mathematics. The teachers were good at making their point and making it interesting.” Another student said, “I had no idea what careers involved math that I never knew existed. I had a great time!” The teachers said that they enjoyed their workshops and appreciated the time that they were able to spend in discussion with other teachers. With such positive feedback, we hope to be able to have another SK Day next year!
Kalamazoo College
Michele Intermont, Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Kalamazoo College held its first Sonia Kovalevsky Day on Saturday, October 2, 1999. There were 18 girls registered, but only eleven girls actually attended the event. The students ranged from freshmen to seniors. Our theme, “When Sound Meets Symbol” was designed to tie the art of change ringing (bell ringing) to the theory of groups. We gathered in Stetson Chapel on campus which has eight large tower bells in place. The bells were being rung as the students arrived and met each other. Dr. Joan Hutchinson, a mathematician and a change ringer from Macalester College, was our principal speaker. She began the morning for us with a short introduction on “English Bell Ringing.” Throughout the morning, we listened to the bells and worked with handbells, all the while secretly thinking about permutation groups, and a bit about the notion of group in general. The girls received a tour of the bell tower, chimed some bells, and then got to work writing permutations that would be rung. Since it takes months to learn to ring these large tower bells properly, the Kalamazoo College Guild of Change Ringers, which includes mathematicians John Fink and T. Jefferson Smith from Kalamazoo College and Robert Messer from Albion College, was on hand to ring the bells. The members of the Guild also facilitated the handbell activities such as “ringing bodies” and “cross and stretch” that occupied the rest of the morning session.
After lunch in the dining hall, we moved to the mathematics building and continued our exploration of group theory in a more usual fashion. Dr. Hutchinson gave a talk entitled “Change Ringing and Its Mathematics.” After this, we engaged in an exploration of Cayley graphs led by Dr. John Fink. Using the permutations we had written in the morning and the rules of bell ringing, we created graphs and looked for Hamiltonian cycles. The second session, on braid groups, was led by Dr. Hutchinson. We created our own braids with yarn, and examined what they had in common with the bell permutations we had been creating. Finally, in the third session, led by Dr. Michele Intermont, we formally defined the term group, quickly looked at symmetries of triangles and squares (which looked an awful lot like permutations on 3 bells (!) and had a lot in common with permutations on 4 bells). We looked at examples such as the integers under addition, rational numbers under addition, real numbers under addition, addition modulo 12. We also examined some non-examples such as the integers under multiplication, etc.
At the end of the day, each student was given a copy of Dorothy Sawyers' book The Nine Tailors with a bookmark listing a few accessible group theory references, the AWM Newsletter, and the Careers That Count booklet.
We had planned to host a parallel session for teachers with Dr. Ellen Maycock Parker of DePauw University. After spending the morning with the students experimenting with the bells, the teachers would have adjourned to a computer classroom to explore group theory in more depth than the students. As part of this, each teacher was to receive a copy of Dr. Parker's book Laboratory Experiences in Group Theory to take home. Due to lack of interest, however, this session was cancelled.
Participation in this event was much lower than we had hoped. Several students registered for the day, but failed to appear. We mailed materials and registration forms to most of the high schools in Kalamazoo County. In addition, we targeted several schools outside of the county. We followed this mailing with telephone calls to the schools, speaking directly with mathematics teachers at the schools. In addition, Kalamazoo College prepared a press release about the event which was sent to the local newspaper and the local National Public Radio station. Although the date of our event did not conflict with the SAT test, it still seems that autumn is a busy time of year; several teachers commented that they would have liked to come, but couldn't, and we imagine that students also had conflicts. Despite this setback, we would like to hold more Sonia Kovalevsky Days in the future.
We owe many, many thanks to the K College Guild of Change Ringers and to the AWM for making this day possible!
North Carolina A&T
Alexandra Kurepa
The North Carolina A&T Sonia Kovalevsky High School Mathematics Day took place on Thursday, November 4, 1999. About 150 participants from the high schools in the Greensboro/High Point/Winston Salem area participated in the event. This year we were very successful in targeting some local high schools with a high minority enrollment. More than 60% of participants were members of a minority group.
The event started at 8:30 with registration and coffee, juice and doughnuts. The morning session began with opening remarks about the background and the history of the Sonia Kovalevsky Day given by Alexandra Kurepa of NCA&T which was followed by a welcome from the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Ethel Taylor. Giles Warrack of NCA&T gave a presentation on the life of Sonia Kovalevsky, introducing the audience to the interesting and productive life she led. The principal speaker was Cora Sadosky from Howard University who gave a talk on Mathematics and Girls. The talk quickly became a “town hall meeting” with great participation from the girls in the audience. As a former President of the AWM, Sadosky shared her experiences and ideas trying to provide encouragement and inspiration to students as well as giving their teachers support and guidance in educating young women of tomorrow. The students enjoyed her one-hour lecture, and the conversation continued during the break. Then students had a choice of one of the two workshops offered: “View the Beauty of Mathematics: Patterns in Chaos” conducted in the computer lab by Mingxiang Chen of NCA&T, or “Careers in Mathematics” presented by Errol Rowe, who himself had a nonacademic career in mathematics prior to coming to NCA&T. All the students that participated in the Sonia Kovalevsky Day were given the Careers That Count booklet published by AWM. The workshop provided additional opportunity for the students to ask questions and obtain more information. As most of the students attended student workshops, a small group joined the teachers in a workshop entitled “Gender Gap in Mathematics and Computing” given by Virginia Knight of Meredith College in Raleigh. As the chair of a “female” institution Knight had the experience and the data to head an interesting conversation among high school teachers, high school students, A&T faculty and A&T math education graduate students.
After lunch a one-hour workshop for all participants was given by Didon Pachner, a representative from the National Security Agency and a mathematician who is out in the “real world” doing what the students consider “fun things.” Pachner provided the audience with great information on how and where to apply for college support, what to expect at a job with the National Security Agency, which is the largest employer of mathematicians outside of education, and what her day as a mathematician in the real world looks like. The workshop was entitled “Elementary Cryptanalysis” and required student participation. Her lecture was very informative and entertaining, and she left all of us with a big homework assignment that she will come and collect next year at our Fourth Sonia Kovalevsky Day! The program ended by 2:30 to allow students to get back to their schools before the end of a school day and take the buses home. This year we actively included the student chapter of MAA in the event. Their role was not only to help with the organizational part but also to be role models for these future students, to talk to them, answer questions and inform them about the activities of the chapter and student life on campus.
Organizing this event and coordinating the activities with local high schools is always a very demanding and challenging job. However, the reward of bringing such a large number of young women to campus and introducing them to some very successful women mathematicians is beyond words. We feel that we have influenced some of these young women and that we will see them one day in a mathematically oriented career.
North Dakota State University
The Sonia Kovalevsky High School Day was held on Saturday, October 16, 1999. Nineteen students and two teachers from the area participated. One reservation high school was again a major participant, sending six students and a teacher. These participants drove more than six hours to attend. We were able to provide local lodging for one night, a little additional support to help with their expenses. This kind of effort underlines the need for events such as ours in a rural state.
Following a continental breakfast the Mathematics Department Chair, Dogan Comez, welcomed everyone. Each participant received a notebook, pen and program. Dr. Jane Hawkins of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill presented the keynote address. Jane neatly worked a short presentation on Sonia Kovalevsky into her talk, which was enthusiastically enjoyed by the students.
After the keynote address the students participated in two workshops. In the first workshop, students learned about position and velocity in a very engaging way. Their motion was measured using a strobe-like device interfaced with a programmable calculator. The students then tried to match their movements to displayed graphs of either velocity or position. Of course, in order to try to match the graphs, they first had to interpret them. This workshop provided an energizing kickoff for the program. The second workshop involved public key cryptography, and this time the students were actively and enthusiastically involved in sending and decoding messages sent through a simplified public key system.
Participants were treated to a sandwich bar lunch in the Family Life Center at NDSU where students, teachers, visitors and faculty interacted, discussing, among other things, mathematics in college and career opportunities in mathematics.
Immediately following lunch, Hursha Raimaya, one of the repeat participants, gave a short speech on Innumeracy. She had prepared the speech after our conference last year and had used it to win prizes in several speech competitions. We then presented a career panel for the students. The participants included Jane Hawkins (University of North Carolina mathematics professor), Elizabeth Mossberg (NSA analyst), Ayse Sahin (NDSU mathematics professor), Lisa Nolan (veterinarian and NDSU microbiology professor), and Manya Harsch (University of Minnesota Dentistry School statistician). The participants explained the kinds of work that they perform and how mathematics has helped them achieve their career objectives. The questions asked by the students covered a wide range of topics.
Following the career panel, students took part in two of three additional workshops. One workshop concerned regular solids; the students looked for various patterns using convex polyhedral models. Our NSA visitor presented a workshop on classical cryptanalysis in which the students solved a transposition cipher. In the last workshop participants found patterns in several problems related to graph theory. At the end of a long but enjoyable day for all, first-time participants received a copy of the John Allen Paulos book Innumeracy while second-year participants received the MAA book She Does Math! All participants received a copy of the AWM brochure Careers That Count, an AWM Newsletter, information about AWM and a postage paid envelope containing an evaluation sheet.
From the organizer's point of view, we were happy with the day. Participation was not quite as high as it was last year. Last year we got a substantial boost in participation when our news release appeared in local papers, but this year the press release didn't make it into local papers until less than a week before the event. Again we were disappointed by the lack of participation by teachers. As last year we had a web page for our event which allowed students to look into the program and get their questions answered on-line. (See http://skday.math.ndsu.nodak.edu/.)
The Sage Colleges
The Sage Colleges were pleased to host their first Sonia Kovalevsky High School Mathematics Day on Friday, October 15 and Saturday, October 16, 1999. The program was held on the campus of Russell Sage College for Women in Troy, New York. Six individuals, mostly faculty of The Sage Colleges, presented hands-on workshops to the students and teachers, while five women participated in a career panel. Throughout the day, Russell Sage College Students belonging to the group SMaRT (Science, Mathematics, Research, and Technology) Women helped with organization, directing traffic, and greeting the visiting students. We hosted a total of 15 students and three teachers from four schools.
The day began at 8:30 a.m. with registration and refreshments. Each student had her own folder containing a copy of the day's program, a campus map, an information sheet on AWM, the booklet Careers That Count, pad of paper, pen and pencil, and an invitation to a Russell Sage College Open House. The teacher folders contained the same material, but instead of Careers That Count they were given a copy of the book She Does Math! All participants were given T-shirts featuring a graphic and quote of Sonia Kovalevsky. Once all participants were registered, Professor Tina Mancuso of the Division of Mathematics and Computing Sciences of the Sage Colleges, gave some opening remarks and a PowerPoint presentation on Sonia Kovalevsky's life.
There were two morning sessions and one afternoon session of workshops. During each session, students could choose to attend one of two workshops, while there was only one set of workshops for the teachers. Given the presentation and recent interest in using rubrics, we were able to arrange for the purchase of the book Performance Tasks and Rubrics õ High School Mathematics at a discounted price, thanks to the sponsorship of The Book House in Albany, New York.
At the luncheon, Dean Enid Burrows of Russell Sage College gave some welcoming remarks. The sandwich buffet provided a wonderful opportunity for the Sage faculty and SMaRT students to chat with the visiting faculty and students.
The career panelists were: Francis Bronet, Dean of the School of Architecture, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Nicole Clay, secondary school mathematics teacher, Long Trail School; Phyllis Conroy, Director of Academic Technologies, The Sage Colleges; Lynn Edmunds, Statistician, School of Public Health, The University of Albany; and Arlene Woodruff, Senior Actuary, Health Underwriters Group. Each panelist gave a five-minute introduction to herself, her field, her particular job, her education and career path, etc. This was followed with questions from the audience. This was a wonderful way for the students to hear first-hand about careers that involve the use of mathematics, whether directly or indirectly. A reception immediately followed, giving the students and panelists an opportunity to interact in a one-on-one fashion.
Following the career panel, evaluations were distributed to all students and teachers attending. Overall, the evaluations were very good. The students really enjoyed their day. However, since some of the sessions ran longer than expected, lunch was shortened. The students would have preferred more time for their campus tour. Those students and teachers who chose not to stay overnight departed after the evaluation forms were filled out.
Ten students and one teacher elected to stay overnight. They were housed in the residence halls with eight students from SMaRT Women. First they could choose between recreation time in the Gator Pit (a work-out facility on the Sage campus) or leisure/game time with the SMaRT students. A pizza dinner followed in German House, one of the residence halls. This was particularly fitting as five of the students staying overnight were German exchange students. Then we held a “Math Jeopardy” tournament. Teams of four or five were created with each team having at least one SMaRT student. Math Jeopardy was divided into two parts. Teams were given a grid of answers on four categories. They were Branches of Mathematics, Mathematical Symbols, Famous Mathematical Quotations, and Mathematica and Minitab. The teams had 20 minutes to work on this section. Next, the teams worked to answer three questions related to the day's workshops and drawn from She Does Math! and Earth Algebra. Each student was provided with a TI-85 calculator and could use a computer which had Internet access and the programs Mathematica and Minitab to use in the solution of the problems. The team that accumulated the most points at the end was declared the winner. Through generous donations from Follett Bookstores (the campus bookstore), each member of the winning team was given a thermal travel mug bearing the Russell Sage College name. Faculty served as judges, and this activity was well received.
We rounded off the evening by relaxing and showing the movie “The Net” with Sandra Bullock and making our own sundaes. The movie featured a female computer scientist trying to solve the mystery of stolen identity.
Saturday began with a catered brunch, followed by a presentation by an admissions counselor on using the web to search for colleges. At 11:30 the students filled out evaluations based on the evening and morning program, checked out, and departed. However, several students left early because the SATs were being given. This portion of the program received rave reviews.
As other hosts of Sonia Kovalevsky Days have mentioned, our greatest difficulty was in the area of recruitment. We sent mailings to ten local high schools in the Spring of 1999, describing our program and inviting them. We only heard back from two high schools. In September we sent follow-up packets. We found the best way to spread the word and recruit was to make phone calls to individual teachers at the school. We have funding from the MAA/Tensor Foundation for a similar program to be held next fall. We plan to begin in Spring 2000 again. This time we will mail to 30 local schools. Another concern was the date. During our Friday/Saturday program, several of the area high schools were having homecoming. In addition, the SAT's were being given. This caused several students to back out at the last minute. We gained particular insight from one teacher who was unable to participate. She explained in detail the difficulty of getting a bus for a field trip. She explained how the event needs to begin after all classes have begun and how the bus needs to return before the end of school. When I suggested sending the students without her, she thought that was an excellent idea. Another school also chose that option. We will offer it as an option to all schools next year.
Based on the discussions and evaluations, the students most enjoyed the career panel. They were happy to meet people in the field. The teachers really enjoyed working on web pages. They wished the session were longer. Although we were disappointed in the lower than expected numbers, we feel the day was a great success. The program was well received and all the teachers said they would participate again. Also, the SMaRT students loved the experience. They were apprehensive about hosting high school students but they all said they would do it again. We would like to thank you very much for the opportunity to do this.
St. Joseph's University
St. Joseph's University hosted its second Sonia Kovalevsky High School Mathematics Day (SKHSMD) on Saturday, October 7, 1999. Twenty young women and four teachers from six high schools in the city of Philadelphia attended this event. Of the 20 students seven were African-American and three were Asian American. The workshop leaders were all members of the faculty from the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science at St. Joseph's University.
After registration and continental breakfast, the opening session began with a welcome from SKHSMD coordinator, Dr. Elaine Terry. Melissa Hudak, a mathematics major, welcomed the students and talked about being a math major at the University. Ms. Martina Leaphart followed with a welcome from the Office of Admissions.
Dr. Deborah Lurie gave the first of three workshops, entitled “What Are My Chances?” In this workshop the students were introduced to the concept of probability and the use of probability models to evaluate the likelihood of an event occurring. Through experiments with dice, the students were able to assign probabilities using empirical results and compare them to those assigned theoretically. The students were given a packet of worksheets with additional experiments to pursue on their own.
Workshop II was a problem-solving contest that was conducted by three St. Joseph's University students: Melissa Hudak, Michelle Barbetta, and Gina Panichella. The students were placed in teams of four or five. Each team was given six problems to work on for thirty minutes. With the help of faculty, the St. Joseph's University students came up with the problems. Number theory and geometry problems were given. The students were also given a website where they could find similar problems.
Workshop III was held in Barbelin Hall. Dr. Stephen Cooper and Dr. Susanna Wei led the computer workshop entitled “Creating Your Own Saturday Morning Cartoons Using Alice.” The students were given a demonstration about how to use (and then given a chance to try out) Alice. Alice is a software package for building 3-dimensional virtual worlds. Alice allows the students to build animated sequences involving 3-dimensional objects they create or select. At the same time, it helps to teach them important problem solving skills and programming concepts.
Following this workshop the group headed to the Campion Student Center for a buffet lunch in the North Lounge. Approximately twenty minutes into lunch, a career panel consisting of three professionals was convened. The three professionals were: Laura Corcoran, cryptologic mathematician with the National Security Agency; Kathleen Jenkins, engineer with NASA; and Sandi Cooper, software engineer with IBM. Each professional was given ten minutes to speak about her career and how mathematics played a role. A question and answer period moderated by Dr. Terry followed.
Dr. Agnes Rash, Chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Sciences at St. Joseph's talked about the life of Sonia Kovalevsky, including both professional and personal aspects of Dr. Kovalevsky's life. Dr. Rash discussed the hardships that women of Dr. Kovalevsky's generation endured. She entertained questions from the students after the twenty-minute talk.
The team from Archbishop Ryan High School won with the most correct solutions. Each of the four students was given a Hoberman Mini Sphere. All of the participants were given a Certificate of Participation. Everyone received writing pads from the Admissions Office, and Kathleen Jenkins gave the students key rings and stickers with the NASA logo. The day ended with a group photo taken outside the Campion Building.
As the questionnaires indicate, the second Sonia Kovalevsky High School Mathematics Day at St. Joseph's University was a success. We look forward to another successful day next year.
University of Mississippi
The University of Mississippi held its Sonia Kovalevsky High School Mathematics Day on Thursday, September 23, 1999. We invited teachers from rural high schools in the area to bring female juniors and seniors to participate in the day. The 41 students who attended were accompanied by six teachers from different high schools in the area. Of the 41 students, twelve identified themselves as minorities.
The event is the second such program at the University of Mississippi. The organizer of the meeting was James Reid, an associate professor in the Department of Mathematics at the University of Mississippi. He was assisted by a committee of faculty members from the mathematics department including Dale Bowman, Gerard Buskes, and Patricia Treloar. The staff of the math department also spent a great deal of time helping with mailings and arrangements. Several graduate students also volunteered their time during the day.
Learning from our experiences of the previous year, we planned a shorter program this year to encourage greater participation from students and teachrs who had some distance to travel to the event. James Reid opened the program with welcoming remarks and introductions. Immediately following, Gerard Buskes gave a brief history lesson on Sonia Kovalevsky and her contributions to mathematics and to the women who followed her. Dr. Buskes is a professor in the Mathematics Department at the University of Mississippi and the editor of an international newsletter on the history and pedagogy of mathematics.
Dale Bowman, an associate professor in the math department, orchestrated an activity designed to simulate a biological field experiment. Students were shown a large tub filled with animal crackers, simulating a population of unknown size of animals in the wild. A sample was taken from the tub by an assistant from the audience who was a recent graduate from the math department and currently a mathematics teacher at Olive Branch High School. The assistant counted the crackers in the sample, “tagged” them and “returned them to the wild.” Students were split into groups, and each group was then allowed to take a second sample and use their sample to estimate the size of the entire population. The activity was very successful in stimulating the groups to discover approaches to use in estimating the population size. The students were also interested to discover how different population estimates could be when based on samples. Dr. Bowman worked as an actuary for several years before obtaining her Ph.D. and was able to give the students some idea about the kinds of opportunities available to mathematics majors.
Following the activity Jane Gerber gave a talk on career opportunities for math majors and her experience in the work place. Ms. Gerber graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics in May of 1998 from the University of Mississippi. Since her graduation she has been working at Ernst and Young in Memphis, TN. She encouraged the students to attend college by emphasizing the importance of a college degree in the workplace. She also spoke of the employment prospects available to math graduates. The participants enjoyed hearing of her personal experiences as a math major.
Next, participants had lunch at the student union. After lunch students were brought to the math building where snacks were provided in the math library. While participants visited with faculty members and graduate students, groups of ten to fifteen students were taken to a computer laboratory where they enjoyed the competition of trying to “earn” a million dollars. James Reid conducted the session in the computer program Mathcad. Students were allowed to modify interest, saving, and inflation parameters with the goal of trying to save exactly one million dollars. Students were engaged by the monetary aspect of the problem and enjoyed the connection between the “real world” and mathematics.
We plan to contact students and teachers who participated in the program when they are ready to graduate to attempt to encourage their interest in mathematics. Further, the teachers will be contacted immediately in order to assess this year's event. Continued contact is extremely important to the students from small rural areas where poverty levels are high and interest in mathematics may not be fostered. We all felt the second Sonia Kovalevsky Day was even better than the first and would like to make the Sonia Kovalevsky Day an annual event at the University of Mississippi.