Join us on Friday, January 18, 2019, at 3 PM in 103A Walker Hall for a report on MPE and Sustainability in the Classroom. Alana Baird and Tyrel Winebarger will share some products from the DIMACS MPE workshop.
Abstract:
Sustainability topics provide excellent opportunities for fostering quantitative literacy through exploration of real and relevant phenomena. DIMACS’ Mathematics of Planet Earth (MPE) 2013+ writing workshop ”Developing Sustainability Modules for the Community College Classroom” brought instructors from universities and two-year colleges together to revise then current mathematical exploration modules and develop new units relating mathematical concepts to current issues surrounding sustainability efforts worldwide. Tyrel Wineberger and Alana Baird will share some of the products of the workshop, as well as student research into the effectiveness of implementing sustainability topics in college math curricula. One module to be shared requires learners to analyze climate data using Shiny apps, which allow exploration of big data sets and allows learners to easily see the impacts of changing calculations and graph types. Another unit develops the process of mathematical modeling, by analyzing data about Palm Oil production, designed for college algebra courses, but easily adaptable for a range of courses.