Journey Magazine 2014 | Page 40

MATHEMATICS & STATISTICS HIGHLIGHTS Tin-Yau Tam, Department Chairman Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership Awarded $1.05 million to Meet Common Core Challenges The Auburn partnership is also involved in a Research Action Cluster focused on improving future mathematics teacher s’ clinical experiences. Some Thoughts About Modern Mathematics The Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership is a national effort aimed at redesigning secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs to meet the challenges of the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics. The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust awarded the MTE-Partnership a $1.05 million grant to begin the next phase of work to redesign secondary mathematics teacher preparation programs. The funding builds on earlier awards from the Helmsley Trust, the National Science Foundation, and 100Kin10. The MTE-Partnership is comprised of 38 teams from 30 states, and Auburn University is the lead institution for the Central Alabama Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership team. Auburn University is working with Tuskegee University, Alabama State University, Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (http:// www.amsti.org/), Auburn City Schools, and Tallassee City Schools. The nature of mathematics and its relationship to the arts and sciences are virtually unknown outside the profession of mathematicians. Practically every non-mathematician I meet will brag about how hopelessly ignorant they are about the subject, assuring me that they are indeed on the “right” side of the cultural divide, with interests in arts and letters, history, philosophy, etc. The general perception of mathematics is that of a sterile subject representing the opposite extreme. How wrong they are. They don’t know what they are missing. “This is an opportunity for Auburn University to work with local and national partners to improve the preparation of new mathematics teachers so they can better meet the increased mathematical demands their future students will face,” said Marilyn Strutchens, team leader for the Central Alabama Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership, member of the MTEPartnership Planning Committee, and M.C. Fraley Distinguished Professor in the College of Education’s Department of Curriculum and Teaching. The Central Alabama Mathematics Teacher Education Partnership team is one of four involved in a “Research Action Cluster” aimed at improving instruction in calculus, which is a key to better preparing future mathematics teachers as well as students from a wide range of majors. “Developing new strategies that engage students in actively learning mathematics will not only increase their success in the course but also help them build the thinking skills needed for longterm success,” said Ulrich Albrecht, professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics and leader for the Mathematics Research Action Cluster Team at Auburn. 40 Journey/2014 “Partnerships within the university, including mathematicians and mathematics educators, as well as with other universities and K-12 schools and districts, are critical to meeting the partnership’s objectives,” said W. Gary Martin, Leischuck Endowed Professor in the Department of Curriculum and Teaching and co-director of the MTE-Partnership. In addition to Strutchens, Albrecht, and Martin, faculty from Auburn involved in the Central Alabama Mathematics Education Partnership team include: Narendra Govil, professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics; Huajun Huang, associate professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics; Steven Stuckwisch, assistant professor in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics; and Peggy Dagley, director of Professional Education Services in the College of Education. The MTE-Partnership was organized by the Association of Public Land-Grant Universities to: build a national consensus on guiding principles for the preparation of mathematics teachers; promote partnerships among all sectors throughout the teacher development process; develop and coordinate a networked research and development agenda; serve as a clearinghouse for model programs and practices; and advocate for change at university, state, and national levels. For more information, visit the website at this address: http://www.aplu.org/page. aspx?pid=2163. by Olav Kallenberg Modern math is a world of wonders and supreme beauty, as close to the arts as anything. Indeed, I claim that math and music are the two major forms of abstract art, and it is no coincidence that classical music is my main interest outside of mathematics. Every theorem I have ever proved is inspired by music, and my mathematical ideas will mature in my subconscious mind during my two to three hours of daily piano practice. The difference is that anyone can enjoy the beauty of a Chopin concerto or a Puccini opera without knowing anything about music, whereas the beauty of math will become apparent only after years of sustained studies. The first thing you need to know is that math is anything but a body of ancient technical knowledge that we keep on teaching new generations of students to meet their needs in sciences and technology. It is indeed a subject in dynamical development of its own, right now. By a recent count, there are 53,911 professional mathematicians in the world, all working tirelessly to expand the domain of current knowledge. If there ever was a “golden age” of mathematics, it is right now. The usefulness of math is a wonder in itself, and the book of nature is indeed written in the language of math. For example, the main areas of modern physics, such as general relativity and quantum mechanics, can only be understood in terms of their mathematical descriptions. Likewise, recent progress in genetics, evolution, and population dynamics would be unthinkable without a mathematical analysis. Additionally, subtle ideas of stochastic processes are used routinely in economics, banking, and finance. Yet the greatest wonder may be that of math as a hidden treasure, for us to uncover through our persistent efforts. Most mathematicians believe in the existence of a Platonic realm of mathematical truth independently of our discovery. In this sense math becomes a science in the same way as fundamental physics. Just as in physics, Mother Nature will reveal her secrets only through the inte nse efforts of thousands of people, each contributing a little piece of knowledge. I am proud to be part of this huge, ongoing enterprise. After sustained efforts to find the perfect expression of a mathematical truth, you may suddenly “see” the underlying pattern. But then comes weeks, maybe months, of hard work to find a complete, rigorous proof. You can never be sure that your intuition hasn’t led you astray until you have a complete proof. Math is a subject in explosive development. The body of knowledge may double every 10 years or so, and nobody has the overview anymore. There are thousands of subareas, and each of us may be an expert on just a handful of them. The resulting fragmentation may be the greatest threat to the future of math. This is why I wrote my book, Foundations of Modern Probability, which is today used all over the world, where I summarize the basic facts in different areas of stochastic processes. I was surprised to see how much could be done to simplify the traditional proofs and approaches handed down through generations of textbook authors. For similar reasons, I have also published some specialized research monographs in different areas where I have worked. Math does not come easily, and a huge effort lies behind every page I have ever published. Still, it is a privilege to be allowed to contribute to this wondrous body of mathematical truth. One day, I am sure, our collective work will be recognized, along with modern science, as one of the greatest cultural achievements of mankind. About Kallenberg Born in Sweden, Professor Olav Kallenberg joined the mathematics faculty at Auburn in 1986. He specializes in the study of probability theory — stochastic processes, and his most recent manuscript, “General Theory of Random Measures” was accepted for publication by Springer, the leading mathematics publisher in the world. Kallenberg’s earlier books, Foundations of Modern Probability and Probabilistic Symmetries and Invariance Principles, both published by Springer, as well as Random Measures, are considered classics by the international mathematics community, and last year, an international symposium was held in his honor in Sweden at the Institut Mittag-Leffler of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Other notable honors include receiving the Rollo Davidson Prize from Cambridge University in 1977, making him the second recipient of the prize in history. In 2006, Kallenberg delivered the opening lecture at the huge Vilnius Conference in Mathematical Statistics and Probability, and the same year he was selected to give the Auburn University Distinguished Graduate Faculty Lecture. He was elected a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematical Statistics in 1989, he served as editor in chief of Probability Theory and Related Fields from 1991-94, and he has given numerous plenary and invited talks at mathematics conferences around the world. For more information on Kallenberg, visit his website at this address: http://www.auburn. edu/cosam/faculty/math_stats/kallenberg/ index.htm. College of Sciences and Mathematics 41