Contributed Presentations

Session 1 - Salisbury Labs 104

4:30-4:45 An Undergraduate Research Project

Dan McQuillan, Norwich University

We describe recent involvement of four undergraduate students in problems about vertex magic total labelings of graphs.

4:50-5:05 An Undergraduate Teaching Assistant Program

Debra K. Borkovitz, Wheelock College

At Wheelock students in some of our introductory classes are required to participate in a study group with 4-6 students, led by an undergraduate teaching assistant. The TA's, who are paid for their work, attend a b iweekly 1-credit seminar, post reflections online after each study group, and respond to each other's reflections. The majority of both the TA's and the students in the courses are pre-service teachers. In this talk, I will tell you more about our program -- from both a philosophical and a ``nuts and bolts'' perspective.

5:10-5:25 Classifying Configurations of Three Planes, a Group Activity for College Algebra

Ezra Halleck, New York City College of Technology, The City University of New York

In a 1 hour, 40 minute class devoted to solving systems of 3 linear equations in 3 dimensions, students learn the possible geometric configurations of the associated planes by building models and making presentations. In a previous class on 2 linear equations in 2 dimensions, students learned about consistent, dependent and inconsistent systems, as well as algebraic and geometric solution techniques used to classify the 3 associated configurations. With systems of 3 equations, students use the same algebraic methods to solve but confront a much more difficult classification problem.

Session 2 - Salisbury Labs 105

4:30 - 4:45 The Convergence of Mathematics and Art in The Da Vinci Code

Donna Beers, Simmons College

The New York Times best seller, The Da Vinci Code, joins several Hollywood films and the Broadway play, Proof, in publicizing mathematics within the popular culture. In this high tech thriller, a murder has taken place and Leonardo's paintings hold clues that will help to solve its mystery. I n this talk we look at the mathematics and the art that unlock The Da Vinci Code.

4:50 - 5:05 Lego Geometry

Edward Welsh, Westfield State College

Lego bricks give us a great way to explore basic geometry notions. We'll look at the Pythagorean Theorem, and see a dramatic, hands-on demonstration of ratios.Ê After a quick visit with calculus, we'll see a few vivid noneuclidean examples.Ê This is a participatory talk; building kits will be available to audience members who come early and sit in the front of the room.

5:10 - 5:25 Generalizing pi, Angle Measure and Trigonometry

Rob Poodiack, Norwich University

In the past five years, several papers have appeared in MAA journals regarding the value of $\pi$ in $\ell^p$ spaces -- spaces where the distance between points is measured using $p$-th roots of sums of $p$-th powers rather than the usual square root of sums of squares. These new values of $\pi$ give rise to interesting versions of trigonometric functions. We will look at these generalized trigomometric functions, as well as the derivatives and integrals associated with them. We'll also compare this version with a 1959 generalization that starts with different assumptions about $\pi$.