Month: October 2014

Title: Learning from systematic descriptions of mathematics professional development

Abstract:  In this talk I present emerging results from a systematic
review of publications on mathematics professional development. The
research team reviewed over 170 papers published between 1992 and 2010
to address the following research questions: What do we know about the
design and conduct of mathematics PD being studied by researchers and
how are these PD characterized in research reports? The conceptual
framework included six elements: theory, context, goals, content,
format, and activities.

Title: Random Groups at Density 1/2

Abstract: Random groups in the density model (with density 0<d<1) have
presentations with a random set of (2m-1)^{dk} relators of length k on
m generators. The classic theorem in the density model states that for
d>1/2, random groups are asymptotically almost surely trivial or
isomorphic to Z/2Z, while for d<1/2, random groups are asymptotically
almost surely infinite hyperbolic. This summer our research group
studied random groups at d=1/2 and found both infinite hyperbolic
groups and trivial groups are generic, depending on how we tuned
certain parameters.

Title: The World’s Greatest Game

Abstract: Analogy pervades all our thinking, our everyday speech and our trivial conclusions as well as artistic ways of expression and the highest scientific achievements.” This quote, from George Pòlya, is from his book, “How to Solve It”. If you have a problem that you want to solve, this is the book and, possibly, the talk for you. We’ll follow Pòlya’s four-step method as we discuss questions from different areas: probability, geometry and life and, as a plus, we’ll learn to visualize something people often think is imaginary.

Bio: Pamela Gorkin is a Professor in the Mathematics Department here at Bucknell.