Student Projects in Mathematics at Clarion University

这个项目的动机是数学课程需要一个单一的重点，可以指导数学专业学生在整个本科教育中的学习，并最终使他们成为独立的终身学习者。作为一个顶点经验，之前的高级研讨会旨在通过让学生将3年的教学整合到一个演讲中来展示这种独立性。不幸的是，学生们还没有准备好迎接这一挑战。因此，该项目选择了在项目的每个阶段提高本科生研究能力的需要作为其组织原则。本项目通过提高学生对数学内容的掌握，创造完成扩展作业和自主探究的机会，以及提供促进创造性研究的现代技术能力，提高学生的研究经验。该项目确定使用扩展作业和项目的课程，创建与课程目标相关且具有刺激性的作业和项目，随着学生在课程中的进步，提高对学生成就的期望，并根据每个阶段完成的项目和达到的掌握水平跟踪学生的进度。这个项目的好处是用学生的收获来描述的：(a)学生们了解到数学是一门不断变化和扩展的动态学科；(b)学生理解数学是如何产生的以及数学研究是如何进行的；(c)通过参加会议和发表他们的工作报告，学生们与更大的数学社区建立了联系，并对数学的美丽和优雅有了更大的欣赏。＊

This project is motivated by the need in the mathematics program for a single focus that can direct mathematics majors' learning throughout their undergraduate education and ultimately prepare them to be independent and life-long learners. As a capstone experience, the previous senior seminar has been intended to display this independence by having students pull together 3 years of instruction into a single presentation. Unfortunately students have not been prepared to meet this challenge. This project has therefore chosen as its organizing principle the need to improve undergraduate research capabilities at every stage of the program. This project improves students' research experiences by improving mastery of mathematical content, creating opportunities to complete extended assignments and self-directed inquiry, and providing modern technological capabilities that facilitate creative investigations. This project identifies courses for which extended assignments and projects are used, creates assignments and projects that are stimulating and relevant to course objectives, increases the expectations for student accomplishment as they advance through the program, and tracks students' progress according to projects completed and mastery levels reached at each stage. The benefits of this project are described in terms of student gains: (a) students learn that mathematics is a dynamic subject that is constantly changing and expanding; (b) students understand how mathematics is created and how mathematical research is conducted; and (c) by attending conferences and giving presentations of their work, students become connected to the greater mathematics community and gain greater appreciation for the beauty and elegance of mathematics. *