Ready, Set, Go Math!
2012 NYSMATYC Region I Conference
Genesee Community College
November 10th, 2012
Preliminary Conference Program
Genesee Community College will be hosting the NYSMATYC Region I conference on
Saturday, November 10, 2012 at our campus in Batavia, NY.
This looks to be a robust gathering, with presentations coming from both our NYSMATYC
colleagues and members of the GCC community-at-large. What follows is a preliminary list
of some of the presentations, with more being added as they come in.
Please check this list often, and encourage your colleagues to attend. The conference
registration form can be found on the NYSMATYC web site under conferences. Please return
your registrations so they are received by November 3rd. Your registration fee includes light
breakfast refreshments at sign-in and a casual lunch between the morning and afternoon
sessions.
We also invite you to consider being a presenter at our conference. Please submit all
proposals by October 20th to: Chris Kemp, Genesee Community College, Math / Science
Division, One College Road, Batavia, NY 14020 or electronically to [email protected].
9:00 AM – 9:30 AM Registration, Conable Technology Building
9:15 AM – 9:25 AM Opening Remarks
9:30 AM – 10:20 AM Opening Session
The GUSTO! team was formed in 1995 to provide professional development
and team building opportunities on campus primarily for staff (but all are always
welcome). Dr. Andes, Ms. Paisley, and Ms. Costello are members of the
GUSTO! Team. Genesee was fortunate this year to hire Mr. Priester as
Instructor of Transitional Studies. He is a certified StrengthsQuest trainer and is
lending his expertise to the GUSTO! Team to further Strengths development on
campus.
A Circle of Strengths…
Do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day? Initiating a
StrengthsQuest program at Genesee has empowered our staff to think about
this question. The premise of StrengthsQuest developed by The Gallup
Organization over four decades ago is that a person will be more successful
working from their strengths than trying to fix their weaknesses. The GUSTO!
Team (Genesee Unites to Support Team Opportunities), a staff development
team at Genesee, introduced StrengthsQuest to staff in the fall of 2010
believing that it would build a road to employee and student engagement –
ultimately leading to student retention, completion, and success. Let us tell you
about our Strengths journey to date and how we are now moving
StrengthsQuest into the classroom.
Barb Shine: GCC Associate Professor of Business and Entrepreneurship, and
co-chair of Teaching and Learning Creativity in the Classroom Initiative at GCC.
Let’s Discuss This … Creativity in the Classroom!!!
Workshop attendees can listen, discuss and learn … What is this “creative”
thinking discussion trend? Is there a relationship between creative thinking
and learning? How do we engage students in creative thinking while continuing
to teach our required curriculums?
10:30 AM -10:55 AM Session II
Michelle Abdella: Associate Professor of Mathematics at GCC and travelling
zombie hunter.
Mathematical Knowledge of Students in the Elementary Teacher Program
A discussion of the varied range of mathematical knowledge students have
coming into the teacher program and their expectations when taking Math for
Elementary Teachers. Student “solutions” from past exams, how ‘difficult’
concepts are presented to students, and the need for math specialists in
elementary school will also be discussed.
Judy Dean: Judy is an assistant professor at Monroe Community College. This
is her fourth year teaching full-time at MCC. She has been teaching at MCC
and other area colleges since 2005. Prior to 2005, she taught elementary and
middle school combined grades in an alternative school and also taught math in
high school. She is always interested in strategies and course design that
fosters student engagement.
The Flipped Classroom
The flipped Classroom is a new classroom format where students watch
lectures on videos and come to class ready to practice problems (usually in
small groups). This will be a presentation & discussion of how this can be
implemented in a mathematics classroom. I will share how I have been using
this in intermediate and college algebra courses.
11:00 AM – 11:25 AM Session III
Marirose Ethington & Maureen Leupold: Both have been educators for over
20 years in the biology field.
Measurement in the Lab
Haven't you ever wondered where students use those arithmetic skills in the
sciences? Come in and see first-hand why basic math fluency plays such a
critical role in our students success!
We will demonstrate the technique we use in the first course we teach in the
science major’s sequence. This technique involves using a ruler, being able
read the rule, and setting up a simple proportion and calculating the field of
view. The technique also includes estimating the size of an object.
This presentation is being held in a science lab, room C310
Susan Bateman currently teaches for Genesee Community College, The
University of Phoenix Online, and The Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online. She is
a PhD candidate in Mathematics Education at the University of Buffalo.
How would you like to teach while still wearing pajamas, or while eating
cookies? What is teaching an online algebra course really like? In this
presentation, I will explain the requirements of students and facilitators, types of
assignments, technology used, grading feedback, etc. Based on my
experiences of teaching algebra in a traditional classroom and online, I will
highlight the pros and cons of online instruction.
11:30 AM – 12:25 PM Session IV (continues on next page)
Eric Sandler: Eric holds a B.S. in Athletic Training from SUNY Brockport and
an M.S. in Exercise Science from the University at Buffalo. He has been a
Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist since 2006 and currently serves
as the Head Coach for Strength and Conditioning at Genesee Community
College.
“Numbers and Exercise: What is Best for Healthy Living”
Part 1- Classroom Based
This presentation will provide attendees with some factual knowledge about
exercise such as the basics of cardiovascular training, weight training, and
nutrition.
Part 2- Hands-on (in the college’s fitness center)
This interactive portion will provide attendees an opportunity to learn basic
usage of stability balls, medicine balls, some of the latest exercise equipment.
This is a two-part presentation. Attend one or both. Each part runs for 25
minutes.
TECHNOLOGY SESSIONS
Brian Milleville: Associates in science from Niagara County Community
College (NCCC), B.A. in mathematics from SUNY at Buffalo, M.A. in
mathematics from Indiana University. Currently in fifth year teaching at ECC,
courses typically ranging from Algebra 1 to Calculus 3 and Differential
Equations.
Using Dropbox or Google Drive to simplify posting handouts and other
documents in your course management system. We use ANGEL at ECC
and I've become tired of posting documents one at time. I'll show a simple way
to avoid this hassle.
Keyboard shortcuts in Microsoft Word's equation editor--the icons do not
need to be selected with the mouse each time! Word 2007 and later has
subbed-out LaTeX to create it's mathematical symbols, hence most of the
notation is the same as LaTeX. This is a big change from the prior versions of
Word's equation editor. I would go through examples, illustrate the difference
between 'display mode' vs 'inline mode', and give a handout with a bunch of
useful keyboard shortcuts. The talk would be meant to be hands on, in a
computer lab if possible.
Combining an Echo Smartpen with a screen capture program to create a
screen cast. It can be difficult to write, talk, and sound coherent all at the same
time. I'd show an idea for how to produce a screen cast where the voice is
recorded after the 'live' writing. (This is a work in progress for me but something
I'm trying to work into my courses.)
Ken Mead: GCC Professor of Mathematics and Computer Information Systems
YouTube Playlists and Sunscreen
OK, so you've located the perfect Khan Academy or YouTube video for a
topic in your College Algebra class, or perhaps you've just created a
video using your Echo 360 pen or Bamboo Tablet. The question is: how do
you share all these videos with your students? You could link or embed
each video inside Angel or Blackboard, but that takes a lot of work! One
possible solution is to categorize these videos inside YouTube playlists
on your own YouTube channel. It's so easy and will save you so much
time, you'll be sitting on the beach drinking daiquiris while everyone
else is still back in the office.
12:30 PM – 1:20 PM LUNCH
Food is being served in the GCC Student Union.
During lunch enjoy a musical performance by the GCC Forum Players
Before the next session, feel free to make the short walk to the Roz Steiner Art
Gallery, which will be open for your private viewing of the current exhibit
1:30 PM – 2:25 PM Session V
Meredith Altman has taught developmental math at GCC for 25 years. Since
2009 she has had a leading role in developing GCC’s new format for Basic
Math and Algebra 1, based on the Emporium Model of course redesign
promoted by the National Center for Academic Transformation.
A Developmental Math Emporium – Experiences with Course Redesign at
Genesee Community College
The presenter will describe the Developmental Math Emporium course format
used at Genesee Community College since Spring 2011, discuss outcomes,
and share insights gained from the course redesign process.
NOTE: A REPRESENTATIVE FROM HAWKES LEARNING SYSTEMS WILL
BE ON HAND AFTER THE PRESENTATION TO ALLOW CONFERENCE
ATTENDEES TO DEMO THEIR PRODUCT IN OUR COMPUTER LAB (B307)
Jake Amidon has been at FLCC for 10 years and has been Department Chair
for the last 4 years. He first taught FLCC’s liberal arts mathematics class titled
“College Mathematics” his first semester, and almost every one since. For the
last six years all sections of the class at FLCC have used a book that he wrote
for the class.
In Graph Theory (almost) everyone has heard of the Traveling Salesman
Problem. Here we will talk through a lesser known problem called the Route
Inspection Problem. The presenter will share the background he has learned
about the problem, how to solve it and how he has taught the topic in a liberal
arts mathematics class.
2:30 PM – 2:55 PM Session VI
Aimee Calhoun & Linda Carson: Aimee is an associate professor of
mathematics at Monroe Community College (MCC). Linda is an instructor of
mathematics at MCC. Aimee and Linda co-chair MCC’s Mathematics
Appreciation Month Committee.
Monroe Community College’s Math Department celebrated Mathematics
Awareness Month for the first time in April 2012. Join this session as we share
our experiences in celebrating the power of math with our students.
Corey Placito graduated Summa Cum Laude from SUNY Brockport with a
Masters in Pure Math. He has taught at GCC, Brockport, and in New York City
at John Jay college of criminal justice, Marymount Manhattan College, and The
New York City College of Technology. He currently teaches for the University at
Buffalo.
A presentation on complete K Graphs in Beginning Graph Theory, certain
subgraphs and their practical applications, as well as a brief explanation of
using different levels of the Torus to graph non-planar graphs without crossing
edges.
3:00 PM – 3:55 PM Session VII
Mary Knappen is a professor of mathematics at Genesee Community College.
She has made use of SMART Board technology for both face-to-face classes as
well as online and hybrid classes.
SMART Boards can be used to record a professor’s voice explaining the
solution to a problem while (s)he is writing on the SMART Board. This can then
be saved as a .wmv file that can be made available to students via YouTube.
Viddler, Ensemble, etc.. In this session you will actually witness how this is
accomplished.
Offered in classroom D356
Dr. Margaret Heater/ Elizabeth Geuss: Dr. Heater is the Associate Dean for
Student Development at Genesee. Dr. Heater has supervised academic support
services through the Center for Academic Progress for Genesee for 15 years.
Elizabeth Geuss is the Assisted Learning Lab/Tutorial Coordinator for the
College. Ms. Geuss has experience as an academic advisor and has
supervised tutorial services for 25 years.
Decentralizing Tutorial Support
In an era of shrinking budgets and increasing student need for mathematics
tutoring, the challenge of providing adequate tutorial support is evident. This
session will discuss Genesee Community College’s decentralized mathematics
tutoring model. GCC provides tutoring for students enrolled in Basic Math
through Calculus using a variety of strategies.
4:00 PM – 6:00 PM Fun!
Bring your sneakers and your A-game! The college’s gymnasium will be
open to us. There is no better place to loosen up tired muscles than under
a volleyball net or a basketball net. We’ll have both!