CSUMS @ASU a fantastic research opportunity!

Knowing that many of you are interested in research I wanted to share some information about an opportunity at Arizona State University. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Computational Science training for Undergraduates in Mathematical Sciences (CSUMS) project provides $10,000 in stipends to students who are interested in research programs in computational mathematics.

Some of the projects include mathematical models of biological processes, such as brain tumors, cellular transport and cell networks. Students work closely with faculty and the “state of the art High Performance Computing Center and Decision Theater.” Many of the projects produce material suitable for publishing, if you are considering Barrett at ASU this is a fantastic way of completing your Honors thesis!

Eligibility requirements include:

·             You must be a US citizen or permanent resident

·             Computational Mathematical Science major or a Mathematics major (can be a second major)

·             Sophomore or junior standing

·             GPA of 3.0

·             Recommended course work includes; calculus 3, differential equations, linear algebra, scientific computing and data structures.

Student selection is based on academic achievement, letters of recommendation and a personal statement.

Selected students begin their CSUMS experience in the spring semester and then participate in a summer project. CSUMS meets once a week for an hour and a half during the semester (lunch is provided) and daily for eight weeks during the summer. Approximately eleven students are selected each year. In addition to the stipend CSUMS students are given the use of office space on the Tempe campus and a laptop computer.

For more information: http://math.asu.edu/CSUMS

To apply: http://math.asu.edu/about-us/csums-applicationu

If any of you are interested in this program I strongly encourage you to contact Dr. Kostelich Kostelich@asu.edu (480)965-5006 or Dr. Welfert welfert@asu.edu (480)965-7195, they are both extremely wonderful mentors.

Step One: Observation

Though I hope to become a contributor to the classroom learning experience, my first visit to Mrs. Behrens’ classroom was one of strict observation. Because I had expressed an interest in mathematics Mrs. Behrens invited me to observe during a fourth grade math lesson. There were eight students were present, five boys and three girls. Mrs. Behrens began the lesson by announcing that everyone should take out their red folder, the red folder is used exclusively for math. Using a scaffolding technique she began a problem involving the order of operations on the board. After reviewing the mnemonic Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally (parenthesis, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction) she encouraged the entire class to verbalize the steps necessary to proceed through the problem. As she performed this operation I noticed she maintained the student’s engagement in a variety of ways, maintaining a position where she did not turn her back on the classroom and smiling at them seemed the most effective. She talked continuously throughout the lesson, verbalizing the steps obviously aided the students by controlling any impulsive behavior to skip steps as well as reinforcing the mathematical concept. The lesson continued in this manner until the class period ended. The lesson I learned during this observation is that student engagement is a necessary ingredient to productive learning, especially in the area of mathematics. Mrs. Behrens stood at the front of the room, she constantly kept her eyes toward the students and smiled throughout the exercise. Ms. Norma, the aide, unobtrusively walked around the students. She was checking the students work and occasionally gave positive reinforcement – smiles and nods - to the students, or pointed at areas that the student had lost track of the process. The students were actively listening and participating in the vocalized recitation. This was obviously not the first time these students had participated in such an activity and their acquired expertise was very remarkable and even inspiring.

Let the internship begin...

The school, that I was fortunate enough to receive permission to internship at is Houston Elementary, one of 26 elementary schools within the Gilbert Public School (GPS) system. GPS has a total district enrollment of over 39,000 students (Gilbert Public Schools). The Town of Gilbert is a suburb of the Phoenix Metropolitan Area, the 14th largest metro area in the United States. Gilbert itself has a population of 208,453 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2011). With an average family income of $98,213 over 92% of the citizens of Gilbert over the age of 25 have a high school diploma or a GED, 35.5% have a Bachelor’s degree and 10.46% have a Master’s degree (“Gilbert, Arizona”). Houston Elementary is located at 500 E. Houston Ave in Gilbert, Arizona. It currently serves 556 students in grades K-6. Houston offers full day kindergarten, Amanacer Preschool and kindergarten prep. At present there are 44 full time teachers and 40 classrooms with a student teacher ratio of 13.05:1. This exceptional ratio is 16.4% lower than average for all public Arizona schools. The faculty at Houston Elementary has an average of nine years of experience and receive an average salary of $43,102. In 2011 Houston students were performing better than 75.4% of other public schools and 30.8% qualified for free/reduced lunch(Gilbert Public Schools). The class I am interning in is that of Amy Farmer-Behrens. Mrs. Behrens has been teaching special education at Houston Elementary since receiving her Bachelors in Secondary Education/Social Studies from Northern Arizona University in 2006. Because of her position she began taking graduate courses in special education and completed her Masters in December of 2010. Mrs. Behrens has one full time teacher assistant, Norma, who has worked with her in the classroom since 2007. This year their classroom consists of both fourth and sixth graders. She has a total of 19 students with between 4 and 9 in each class period. There are two Hispanic, two Native American, one ‘other’ and 14 Caucasian students. Gender distribution is 3.2:1.

Cells are the smallest unit of life, all living things are made of cells, and cells themselves are alive. Multicellular organisms can be made up of hundreds of trillions of cells, these cells perform different functions. For example, in humans we have thousands of variations on the main categories of cells. These main categories include types like; epithithium, nervous, mesenchymal, lymphocyte, melanocyte, neuroendocrine. Less complex organisms are made up of fewer cells or may be unicellular which means they consist of only one cell! I think this video is a beautiful introduction to the world of cells. I hope that it clears up some misconceptions that people have about cell, though I think the important lesson is that cells are both component parts of larger living organisms and they are individual units of life. Cells are important, like the life forms they combine to create, they undergo specific processes, have genetic material and attempt to pass that genetic material to future generations through the process of reproduction. There is no more grand a mystery than the cells of our own body. It is hard to imagine the vastness let along the endless wonder and inquiry that these tiny organisms bring out. In the area of STEM there is nothing more relevant than the study of the cell. The cell can serve as a foundational focus for all areas of STEM– science, technology, engineering and math - and the culmination of this study and the compilation of knowledge unmistakably has the potential to truly affect our 21st century world. I hope that you find this video as captivating as I do. I found it to be entertaining, educational and most importantly it stimulated my curiosity and just made me want to know more!

November 9, 2012

Hello! My name is McKenna. I am currently enjoying my second year at Phoenix College. As a STEM Scholar I am enjoying many of the excellent opportunities that PC has to offer.  In May 2013 I will graduate with my A.S.  degree  and am hoping to transfer to Arizona State University. While at ASU I plan on triple majoring in global health, mathematics and education.