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.
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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
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