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.