MATH 395-01
Professional Skills Development for Mathematics
STAT 395-01 Professional Skills Development for Statistics
Syllabus for Spring 2016
Tues & Thurs 8:00 – 9:00am
Gildemeister 325
Seminar Time: Some Wednesdays 12:00 – 12:50pm
Various Locations
MATH Instructor: Dr. Eric Errthum Winona Email Username: eerrthum Office: 205 Gildemeister Hall Office Hours: See homepage. Or by appointment on any day.
STAT Instructor: Dr. Chris Malone Winona Email Username: cmalone Office: 124C Gildemeister Hall Office Hours: See schedule. Or by appointment on any day.
Course Website: http://course1.winona.edu/eerrthum/math395
Prerequisite: CMST 191/192, ENG111, MATH313, and MATH327
About This Course: This course is intended mostly for students preparing to begin or currently working on a research project. The topics of this course will provide students with the tools for performing the necessary research work and the skills of communicating their results both verbally and in written form. This course will also cover skills necessary to succeed as a professional in the area of mathematics.
Expectations: Students who complete this course with a passing grade are expected to be able to demonstrate the following skills: (i) Steadfast attendance, (ii) Various research skills, (iii) Verbal communication of technical results, (iv) Written communication of technical results.
Assessment and
Grades: Your course grade will be determined by
your performance in completing the assigned work. All graded material will be evaluated using
the following scale.
·
Exceptional Performance
·
Satisfactory Performance
·
Substandard Performance
·
Incomplete / Missing
Assigned work will receive comments by myself and/or your peers;
however, the performance evaluation will be based on only the instructor’s
review. Work that is determined to be
substandard or incomplete/missing may be revised within one week and
resubmitted. For resubmitted work, the
maximum performance mark will be satisfactory, that is, you cannot achieve
exceptional performance on work that has been resubmitted.
There are four sections of material: Oral Presentation, Written,
Poster Presentation, and Professionalism. Your final grade will be determined
by the following.
|
Grade |
Threshold |
|
A |
At least three sections received exceptional
performance marks, fourth section at least satisfactory. |
|
B |
At least two sections each of exceptional
and satisfactory marks |
|
C |
At least three sections received
satisfactory performance marks, fourth section at least substandard. |
|
D |
At least two sections each of satisfactory
and substandard marks |
|
F |
Less than two sections at a satisfactory
level |
A student
may request an update regarding their performance at any time during the
semester.
Attendance: Attendance
is mandatory. If you miss class, it is your responsibility to get the
material and get yourself caught up.
Course Materials: You are encouraged to use a 3-ring binder for this class because
class materials will be a combination of note taking, handouts, and computer
output.
Academic Dishonesty: WSU Undergraduate Catalog contains a full listing of policies and procedures pertaining WSU’s Academic Integrity Policy. Note that both copying another student’s work and allowing someone to copy your work are clear violations of our academic integrity policy. If there is reasonable evidence of copying another individual’s or group’s work, it will be construed as an act of plagiarism. The first occurrence of cheating will result in a score of zero on that specific homework assignment or exam portion; the second occurrence may result in failure of the course.
Note: This syllabus is subject to change if deemed necessary by the instructor.
Tentative Schedule of Events – Math 395
(subject to change)
|
Week Beginning |
Tuesday |
Wednesday |
Thursday |
|
1/11 |
Introductions
Example Write-Ups: |
No Seminar |
Assignment: · Identify two summer opportunities · Write a mock email/cover letter that would accompany your application · Due Jan 21. |
|
1/18 |
Rubrics for Talks: Oral Presentation Rubric Assignment: · Watch the other two talks above · Score a rubric for each · Write a short explanation of your rubric scores · Due Jan 26. |
No Seminar |
WSU Faculty
Interests: |
|
1/25 |
“Technically Speaking” – Preparation Assignment: · Watch all the Preparation Videos in the link above. · Use the oral presentation rubric and preparation tips to critique Jake’s talk. Due Jan 28. |
Jake Dodd |
WSU Faculty Interests: Drs. Debnath, Deppa, Draskoci-Johnson Discuss Speaker Assignment: · Read at least 2 of the articles: o “Talks are not the same as papers” (Tao) o “How to Talk Mathematics” (Halmos) o "How to Make Your JSM Talk Great” (De Veaux) o "Advice on Giving a Good PowerPoint Presentation” (Gallian) · Write a 2-paragraph reflection on the similarities and differences in advice offered in these articles and from Technically Speaking and from the Rubric and/or what we’ve said in class. Due Feb 4. |
|
2/1 |
“Technically
Speaking” – Delivery Assignment: · Start preparing to give a talk next week: o 8-10 minutes o Technical topic of your choice (e.g. a topic from a calc course or intro to stat course, or a longer talk that you’ve given in a math/stat setting that’s been compressed down, etc.) |
Seminar on Thursday ==> |
12:45pm Seminar: Jeff Draskoci-Johnson (WSU) Stats and the Black Lives Matter Movement “Technically
Speaking” – Visual Aids Intro to Beamer Optional Beamer
Template (pdf and tex versions, example jpg) Assignment: · Critique a previous student’s slides. Due Feb 16. |
|
2/8 |
Student Presentations I Open Topic, 8 – 10 minutes |
Student Presentations I Open Topic, 8 – 10
minutes |
Student Presentations I Open Topic, 8 – 10
minutes |
|
2/15 |
Mathematical
Databases and the Library (Mark Eriksen visiting) Assignment: · Write a mock sentence and bibliography citing the article using the same style the article uses (Due Feb 30) |
Seminar on Thursday ==> |
12:45pm Seminar Student Presentations II Open Topic, no words on slides, 8 – 10 minutes |
|
2/22 |
No
Class |
No Seminar Student Presentations II Open Topic, no
words on slides, 8 – 10 minutes |
Student
Presentations II Open Topic, no words on slides, 8 – 10 minutes |
|
2/29 |
How to Read a Journal Article Example Math Papers: Example
1, Example
2 Good Professional Math Papers: MAA
Award Winners Good Undergraduate Math Papers: Rose-Hulman
Undergrad Math Journal Structure of a Theoretical Paper: “Writing a Research Paper in Mathematics” Some Good Stat Papers: Miami University
REU outcomes Structure of Scientific Papers ·
Bates
College Paper Structure: pdf
| html ·
University
of Manchester: Stat Report
Writing
·
Choose
an article (possibly the same you ordered through ILL) ·
MATH: Determine
how much of the length is proof vs. exposition vs. examples ·
STAT:
Identify the main parts of the paper (Lit Review, Methods, etc.) · Write a summary of the main points Due: March 17 |
Steve Butler |
Purdue’s Online Writing Lab (OWL) Example of Reverse-Outlining: Stat Paper 1 -- Outline Assignment:
|
|
3/7 |
SPRING BREAK |
||
|
3/14 |
12:45pm Seminar: David Marx (U. Nebraska) Anne Marx Scheuerell (Loras College) Sports statistics Student Presentations III Open Topic, 8 – 10 minutes Switch off with other student |
Seminar on Tuesday Student Presentations III Open Topic, 8 – 10 minutes Switch off with other student (Meet in GI329) |
Assignment: Write an abstract for one of the
following papers |
|
3/21 |
Student Presentations III Open Topic, 8 – 10 minutes Switch off with other student Assignment: Watch all 3 of your
presentations and |
No Seminar |
Compare and Contrast responses on Reverse-Outline Assignment Assignment: Write an outline for a paper on |
|
3/28 |
Math Paper 3
Conclusion Assignment: · Write a conclusion for the same paper you chose to do an abstract for Due: March 31 |
Chris Phan (WSU) |
Compare/Contrast Abstracts and Conclusions Assignment: FRIDAY (Noon): Ryan Swanson |
|
4/4 |
Posters – Content/Story-telling
Assignment: |
Brandon Allen |
Discuss/Critique Former Math/Stat Posters
Photograph and Critique two posters (one
“good” and one “bad”) at WSU Research Symposium (Due April 19) |
|
4/11 |
General and Individual Paper Discussions Assignment: Implement revisions in your paper (Due:
April 19) |
Stacey Prieur John Emerson |
Discuss/Critique WSU posters Assignment: |
|
4/18 |
12:45pm Seminar: Tylar Tianxia Jia, (WSU student talks) Professionalism in the Work Place and Online Developing Professional Skills Worksheet Assignment: |
Seminar on Tuesday |
Mark Gorman “Quants, Geeks and Propeller Heads: Common Misperceptions of What Makes Successful Data Scientists.” |
|
4/25 |
Resume & Cover Letter Writing Resume Examples: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six Transferrable Skills of Math Majors Assignment: |
Jacob Beckel |
Career Services: Interviewing to Win! Assignment: |
Due by the Final (Wednesday, May 4,
3:30pm)
· Final
version of paper
· Final
version of poster
· Final
version of resume
WSU recognizes that our individual differences can deepen our understanding of one another and the world around us, rather than divide us. In this class, people of all ethnicities, genders and gender identities, religions, ages, sexual orientations, disabilities, socioeconomic backgrounds, regions, and nationalities are strongly encouraged to share their rich array of perspectives and experiences. If you feel your differences may in some way isolate you from WSU’s community or if you have a need of any specific accommodations, please speak with the instructor early in the semester about your concerns and what we can do together to help you become an active and engaged member of our class and community.
The Standard Disclaimer
applies.
© Eric Errthum, April 2016, all rights reserved.
