Conference Program
Invited Plenaries
Hortensia Soto (Colorado State University)
Plenary Title: Rotate and Fan Out Your Hand to Unlock the Geometry of Complex Analysis
Abstract: Embodiment, specifically gesture, in conjunction with metaphors can unveil one’s reasoning about mathematics. In this talk, I will share what my colleagues and I have learned regarding visualization of complex analysis concepts. A pivotal finding is that understanding the geometry behind complex multiplication can unlock the geometry behind other inscriptions such as f’(z) = dw/dz , ∫c f(z)dz , and the Cauchy-Riemann equations. In concluding remarks I will offer implications for teaching complex analysis and the role of embodiment.
About: Hortensia is a Professor at Colorado State University. Her research centers on the teaching and learning of undergraduate mathematics where she adopts an embodied cognition perspective. Hortensia has mentored young women and promoted mathematics via summer outreach programs. She has facilitated professional development for K-16 teachers in Nebraska, Colorado, and California. She is a recipient of the MAA Deborah and Franklin Tepper Haimo Award for Distinguished College of University Teaching of Mathematics.
Hortensia is a working member of the MAA. She served as the Associate Treasurer, the Associate Secretary, as an editor of the MAA Instructional Practices Guide, and currently serves as MAA President-Elect. She enjoys hiking, practicing yoga, meditating, reading, and most of all spending time with her son Miguel.
Natasha Speer (University of Maine)
Plenary Title: TBD
Abstract: TBD
About: Natasha Speer is a faculty member in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and the Center for Research in STEM Education at The University of Maine. Her work focuses on the teaching of college level mathematics, with particular attention to the professional growth of those who are at the beginning of their careers as instructors. She is part of a team that supports faculty who provide professional development to novice college mathematics instructors. These efforts include providing access to instructional materials for use in teaching-focused professional development programs and offering workshops to those who design such programs. Her particular research interests include investigations into the knowledge and practices instructors use to facilitate students' learning via collaborative group work, problem-solving and whole-class discussions.
Warren Christensen (North Dakota State University)
Plenary Title: “That’s not a math question.”: Investigating the boundary between Mathematics and Physics Education Research
Abstract: At a time when traditional disciplinary boundaries are shifting, there are increasing calls for discipline-based education researchers (DBER) to work across these boundaries. For at least thirteen years, there has been an interdisciplinary conversation at RUME developing around questions of how students reason mathematically in the sciences. When the author first attended RUME in 2009, it was as part of an effort to describe students' use of integration in thermal physics. Despite what was believed to be a thoughtful design comparing physics and mathematics versions of the same integration task, mathematicians pushed back with the comment: “That’s not a math question.” It turns out that designing genuine interdisciplinary research projects and tasks is not trivial. This talk will focus on lessons learned from conducting research across disciplines and advice for those new to research at the disciplinary boundary.
About: Christensen (he/him) is an Associate Professor at North Dakota State University in the Department of Physics. His research focuses on learning and teaching at the intersections of disciplines at the University level. Under that broad umbrella his most extensive work has been at the boundary between middle-division mathematics and upper-division physics. He most often uses a Framing and Resources Theoretical Framework when designing studies and analyzing data.
He is a long-standing member of the American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Physical Society. He has been previously awarded NDSU’s College of Science and Mathematics Ambassadors Excellence Award. He is currently serving on the NDSU President’s Cabinet and is the President-Elect of the NDSU Faculty Senate. His interests include cooking, eating and laughing with the ones he loves. Additionally, he enjoys singing, shopping locally, watching 80s movies with his sons and sitting on his porch.
Pre-Conference Working Groups
Please click on a title for additional details.
Research on Community College Mathematics
Fire Circles on Undergraduate Mathematics Education Research with Indigenous Communities
Teaching Geometry for Secondary Teachers
Research on College Mathematics Instructor Professional Growth
Research on Technology in Undergraduate Mathematics Education
Understanding the Usage of Bioscience in Mathematics Teaching