Math Talk

This Friday, Nov. 30, at 4:00pm in RB 412, Dr. Mary O'Keeffe, founding advisor of Albany Area Math Circle, co-organizer of the Math Prize for Girls@MIT, and public policy economist at Union College, will speak on:

Math is a super power! Share it! Marketing “Extreme Problem Solving” to the Broader Community
On February 20, Siena College will host an exciting national math contest for high school students, the AMC10/12. The Mathematical Association of America has designed these problems to be a great learning experience for high school students to struggle with--but the problems are scary hard to students who have never encountered them before. (In fact, even accomplished adult professionals in STEM fields find them hard! High school teachers find them hard! College professors find them hard!) How do we encourage and support local high school students in embracing this contest as an opportunity to stretch themselves beyond their usual comfort zone and grow mathematically?

We are especially concerned about outreach to students in inner city schools, students who (like Mary herself, when she was in high school) may have no idea of the existence or value of a contest like this one, let alone have any idea how to prepare for it. Albany Area Math Circle has made some inroads on this problem with some fun ideas we would like to share. We are excited about the idea of recruiting interested Siena College students to join us in our "mathematical missionary" work.

After the talk, interested Siena students, faculty, and community members are invited to join Albany Area Math Circle members in brainstorming how to implement our mathematical marketing ideas as we engage in an informal problem solving session. We will create (and eat!) mathematically tessellating and sphere packing polyhedral refreshments.

Refreshments will be served in the Math Library (RB434) at 3:30pm with the talk to follow at 4:00pm in Roger Bacon 412.

Everyone is welcome!