Nicole's Projects

Maintaining PFMF Website: http://math.asu.edu/pff.html

I maintained the PFMF website with fellow PFMF student Ashwini Kelkar this year.  In the fall, we archived the data from the previous year, and I spent a tremendous amount of time organizing the old files into folders.  Regular maintenance included updating our schedule, meeting minutes, and  the Graduate Student Seminar Page with upcoming speaker information, including the speaker's name, topic, abstract, date, time and location. 

Bringing in a Guest Speaker - Paul Cobb 

I worked with Phil Clark, a graduate student colleague in Mathematics Education to bring in a guest speaker.  For this project, we brainstormed with other math education graduate students and faculty on whom to invite.  We decided on Paul Cobb, a prominent professor in the field whose research aligns with the interests of the math education faculty and students in the math department, education department, and CRESMET.  The following is an enumeration of the actions we took to make this project a success.

• Discuss who we would like to invite.  Chose Paul Cobb.
• Ensure we had support from PFMF and math education faculty.
• Invite Paul Cobb.  He said yes!
• Secure the dates for his visit and create budget.
• Secure funds from PFMF and math education faculty.
• Looking forward to his visit in September.

One issue we encountered with this project was Dr. Cobb's availability.  He was not available until September, and we were concerned about if we could still make this project count for this semester.  With guidance and support from Dr. Armbruster, we found that we could do all the necessary steps this semester and only need to worry about the actual visit when it happens.

This project has proven to be invaluable to Phil and I as we have been given the opportunity to directly interact with an influential member of the math education community.  We have also learned the process of how to bring in a guest speaker.  The math education community is looking forward to Dr. Cobb's visit.

Presenting a Paper at a National Conference

I submitted a research proposal to the Psychology in Mathematics Education -North America (PMENA) Conference in Toronto, October 2004.  My proposal was accepted and I will be presenting my paper at the conference.  I have written a seven page paper that will be published in the conference proceedings. 

SUMS Institute

Kate Sisulak gave the PFMF group an overview of the SUMS Institute in October.  Being interested in math education, this aspect of trying to recruit and encourage young mathematicians was appealing to me. She indicated that there were several opportunities for us to work with her and the SUMS Institute, among which were:

• A recruiting visit
• Develop a placement exam
• Develop a mock "bridge" program
• Accompanying staff to placement exams/grading placement exam

I tried very hard during the semester to contact Kate to schedule something.  I emailed and called several times.  I knocked on her door a number of times, and one time I did actually catch her in her office.  We set up a meeting time.  However, she did not keep our appointment.  I again called and emailed, to which I got one reply.  I replied again with times of my availability, but to date, have still not heard back from her.  To future PFMF students, I would not recommend attempting a project with Kate Sisulak.