Amylou's Projects

    Amylou was a guest lecturer for a finite math course at Scottsdale
Community College, will be presenting a paper at a national conference,
participated in a SUMS Institute recruiting visit, and observed an actual
interview of a candidate for a faculty position in the Department of
Mathematics and Statistics.



Guest Lecturer at Scottsdale Community College

In the fall, the PFMF group visited Scottsdale Community College and
learned about teaching mathematics at a community college.  Several of the
SCC math faculty shared their views on teaching mathematics at a community
college and suggested possible projects that they were interested in
initiating with PFMF students.

Mark Burtch, former ASU math instructor and current Math Education PhD
student, expressed a need for the development of expected value projects
for his finite math students because this subject seemed to be difficult
to convey to students in past semesters.  Since I am particularly
interested in probability and decision theory and since I have not had the
opportunity to teach finite math at ASU, I was extremely interested in
lecturing on expected value and developing projects for students.  In
addition, I was interested in exploring further whether I may want to
pursue a community college faculty position in the future.

I contacted Mark Burtch and we decided that I would lecture for the first
portion of class and then work with the class to complete an in-class
project.  Ultimately, I developed an in-class project and an extra credit
take-home project to cover two different approaches to understanding
expected value.  He allowed me to develop the lecture and the projects on
my own.  Descriptions of each follow:

Lecture

I decided to develop the idea of expected value through the need to
evaluate the payoff in a simple card game between two people.  I used
several simple card games and asked students to decide which games were
favorable (which games resulted in positive expected payoff).  I concluded
the lecture with an example involving deciding whether to buy an extended
DVD warranty given the different probabilities of DVD player malfunction.
I posted typed lecture notes on my web page for the students to allow them
to be involved with the lecture without having to take detailed notes.  I
involved the students by playing the simple card games with the students.
The students appeared engaged in the lecture and showed understanding of
the concept of expected value.

Powerball In-Class Project

I used actual odds in Powerball to develop this in-class project.  I gave
students 20 minutes to work together to complete the project and then
spent the remaining time discussing their solutions.  The project asked
students questions about the expected payoff of a $1 ticket with different
jackpot sizes.  The students discovered that expected value was a
function of the jackpot size and that playing the lottery may actually
have positive expected payoff if the jackpot grew large enough (for
example, when the jackpot reached a record $300 million earlier in the
semester).  Students appeared to enjoy the project and expressed a change
in their perspective of playing the lottery or towards gambling in
general.

World Series Extra Credit Take-Home Project

I programmed a game simulator on my web page that allowed students to
enter the probability that a team won a single game against an opponent.
I used the Diamondbacks and Yankees (most recent World Series match-up) to
add interest to the project.  The project asked students to play a 7-game
series until one team won the series (won 4 games).  After 10 series, the
students were asked to calculate the average number of games played in a
series.  This is the simulated estimate of the expected number of games
played in a 7-game series.  The students were then asked to calculate the
expected number of games played using the expected value formula and
compare it to the simulated estimate.  I wanted students to understand
that expected value is the average of an infinite number of trials.  In
other words, the actual number of games played may not be equal to the
expected number of games played, even over several completed series.  Mark
Burtch reported that several students successfully completed the project
for extra credit.

Overall, my impression of teaching at a community college, particularly at
Scottsdale Community College, was positive.  The class size was small (15
to 20 students) and my students actively participated in class.  Mark
Burtch was informative and encouraging about my questions about teaching
at a community college.  I may pursue a community college faculty position
with positive probability.


Presenting a Paper at a National Conference

I am currently completing a paper developed from my MS Statistics Applied
Project which I will present at the Joint Statistical Meetings in New York
City in August.  The paper is titled, "Robust Estimation of Multivariate
Covariance Components."  I submitted an abstract online and was accepted
to present in January.  Since I am presenting a paper, I am eligible for
travel funds from the Graduate College.  Thus, I am also gaining
experience in submitting a travel grant.

The Joint Statistical Meetings is the largest gathering of statisticians
held in North America.  It is held jointly with the American Statistical
Association, The International Biometric Society, the Institute of
Mathematical Statistics, and the Statistical Society of Canada.  Over 4000
people attend the conference.  I am scheduled to present in Session 52 on
August 11, 2002.


SUMS Institute Recruiting Visit

The SUMS Institute (Institute for Strengthening Understanding of
Mathematics and Science) is an umbrella organization that oversees
several programs geared towards supplying opportunities to
underrepresented students in math and science.  One program is the
Math-Science Honors program.  This program offers high school students an
opportunity to live at ASU for 5 or 8 weeks in the summer and complete
college-level math and science courses.  The program is funded through
grants and is free to participants.

In January, Katie Sisulak (Math-Science Honors Program Coordinator)
completed several recruiting visits to local high schools and high schools
outside the valley to distribute flyers and application materials to
interested students.  I attended a recruiting visit with Katie to a valley
high school.  I observed Katie's presentation to students and offered
insight into expectations of college-level math courses.  The experience
showed me that there are numerous opportunities in math outside of
becoming a faculty member at a college and that there is a need to
continually encourage students to pursue interests in math.


Observing an Interview

This year, the Department of Mathematics and Statistics posted a hiring
notice for a faculty position in statistics.  I arranged with the
chair of the hiring committee to observe the interview.

In the interview, several members of the hiring committee asked the
candidate standard questions relating to his interests and experiences in
teaching, research, and service.  Particularly, I learned the importance
of being prepared for questions such as the following:

What courses are you willing to teach?
What courses would you like to develop that are currently not offered?
Which faculty members inside and outside the department are you most
interested in working with?
Are you interested in outside consulting opportunities?

I also learned to prepare questions to ask the hiring committee.

After the interview, I discussed my impression of the candidate with the
hiring committee chair.  We also discussed her impression of the candidate
and her thoughts on strong responses to the above questions.

I felt that this was an invaluable experience that has helped prepare me
for future interviews.