Attracting, Motivating and Preparing Mathematics students and educators in the Southwest by building an energetic community

设在新墨西哥大学(UNM)的NSF资助的MCTP项目有三个主要目标：为学生提供机会加强他们对数学及其应用的理解，影响各级数学教育，以及建立一个参与和互动的社区。由十名UNM教员组成的充满活力的小组领导下，UNM的MCTP计划将提供一个密集的数学夏令营，面向来自整个西南地区的高级本科生。在此之后，将在UNM大学进行本科生荣誉研究项目，在该项目中，学生们将在整个学年得到密切指导。同时，研究生和博士后研究员将在合格的考试准备研讨会上学习高等数学，这将帮助两组人在研究生和研究生工作中取得成功。夏令营将包括一周的高中数学课程，并吸收高中教师参加。它的目的是帮助学员对关键的数学思想有一个深刻的概念性理解，并了解如何生动地表达这些思想。这将为当前和未来的教育工作者提供丰富的专业发展和互动来源。研究生和博士后研究员将开发研究生教师培训研讨会，在研讨会上，他们批判性地分析影响教与学的各个方面。一个外展计划将教本科生用简单、清晰、组织良好的术语来描述数学，然后他们将向高中生展示这些术语。这将促进大学生和高中生之间的互动。在这里，我们将针对少数族裔人口较多、条件较差的学校。各级本科生将在西南本科生数学研究会议(SUnMaRC)期间和通过数学俱乐部活动进行互动。这一努力的目的是为所有直接参与的大约300名参与者提供一个令人兴奋和丰富的机会。所有参与者将通过暑期工作坊、本科生研究计划和资格考试研讨会等不同部分获得数学知识和广度。博士后将有很好的条件发展成为有效的专业人员。所有参与者都将更加意识到良好的教学实践，这将使他们更好地传播他们的知识，并给他们所教的人一个坚实的数学基础。这笔赠款将产生一些成果，使我们能够在其到期后，在资源大大减少的情况下继续开展主要活动。特别是，我们将建立一个结构，使我们能够继续进行外展计划、本科生研究计划、教师培训和合格考试准备课程。这个项目还将影响我们大学数学的可见性和感知力。我们有一个蓬勃发展的数学俱乐部，其成员对数学充满活力和热情，我们希望我们能传播这种热情，创造一个繁荣的、自我维持的创造性探究的氛围。

The NSF-funded MCTP project based at the University of New Mexico (UNM) has three main goals: to provide opportunities for students to strengthen their understanding of mathematics and its applications, to impact mathematics education at all levels, and to build an engaging, interacting community. Led by a dynamic group of ten UNM faculty, the MCTP program at UNM will offer an intensive mathematics summer camp geared at advanced undergraduates from throughout the Southwest. This will be followed by an undergraduate honors research program at UNM in which students are closely mentored throughout the academic year. Simultaneously, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows willstudy advanced mathematics in a Qualifying Exam Preparation Seminar which will help both groups succeed in their graduate and post-graduate work. The summer camp will include one week focused on mathematics at the high school level and incorporate high school teachers. Its purpose will be to help participants develop a profound conceptual understanding of key mathematical ideas and on how to present them engagingly. This will provide a rich source of professional development for and interaction between current and future educators. Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows will develop a Graduate Student Teacher Training Seminar in which they critically analyze aspects that impact teaching and learning. An outreach program will teach undergraduates to verbalize mathematics in simple, clear, well-organized terms, which they will then present to high-school students. This will promote interaction between university and high school students. Here, we will target less privileged schools with large minority populations. Undergraduates at all levels will interact during the Southwest Undergraduate Mathematics Research Conference (SUnMaRC) and through Math Club activities. This effort is intended to provide an exciting and rich opportunity to the benefit of all approximately 300 participants directly involved. All participants will gain mathematical knowledge and breadth through various components such as the summer workshop, the undergraduate research program, and the qualifying exam seminar. The postdoctoral fellows will have excellent conditions to develop into effective professionals. All participants will become more aware of sound pedagogical practices which will make them better at transmitting their knowledge and giving those they teach a solid mathematics foundation. The grant will yield outcomes that will permit us to continue the main activities with significantly fewer resources after it has expired. In particular, we will build a structure that enables us to continue the outreach program, the undergraduate research program, the teacher training and the qualifying exam preparation courses. This program will also affect the visibility and perception of mathematics at our university. We have a thriving Math Club whose members are energetic and enthusiastic about mathematics, and we hope we can spread that enthusiasm to produce a thriving, self--sustaining atmosphere of creative enquiry.