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2008 Summary

The purpose of this summary is to provide an archive of the activities of all of the Special Interest Groups of the MAA (SIGMAAs) for 2008. The following information is based on reports received from 10 of the 11 SIGMAAs, with further information to be posted as it becomes available.

Table of Contents

Reported SIGMAA Activity during 2008:

Synopsis

The majority of SIGMAAs have active websites and listservs that provide members with most of their communication.

Most SIGs organize contributed papers sessions at the JMM and many do at MathFests. Many of the SIGs also host a reception or special event at JMM.

The executive councils of the SIGs do the majority of their their work via email. A few have board meetings at one or both of the national meetings.

ITEMS TO WORK ON:

  • Inducing members to run for office, getting members to vote, and getting elections off on time continue to be a struggle

  • Communication with/from the MAA has lagged this year with regard to reports.

Key Activities by SIGMAAs

ARTS:

  • The art exhibit at JMM 2008.

BIO:

  • Janet L. Andersen Prize for undergraduate research in mathematical biology.

  • Minisymposium: “Current trends in undergraduate biomathematics education” at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Mathematical Biology, August 2008, in Toronto.

EM:

  • JMM Tour of Torry Pine State Reserve.

  • Evening skit on “Shall we have a course on Environmental Mathematics?”

  • Math Fest tour to the Aldo Leopold Center and “the shack.”

HOM:

  • Student Writing Contest and Virtual Book Club.

  • Grant awarded to HOM for MAA centennial research project.

  • Great annual newsletter.

QL:

  • Math Fest MINICOURSE: "A Game Theory Path to Quantitative Literacy".

  • Collaborating with Colby-Sawyer College to co-sponsor 12th Annual NECQL meeting.

RUME:

  • The Eleventh Annual Research Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education was held in San Diego, California.

  • At MathFest 2008, RUME sponsored a focused working group session connecting research to practice in a particular content area: Essential Reasoning Abilities and Conceptual Foundations for Beginning Calculus.

WEB:

  • The greatest success of WebSIGMAA during 2008 was simply a reorganization that turned it from a faltering group with vacant offices into a revitalized organization with good prospects. The reorganization included a revision of the Charter. One apparently successful idea was to change the standard term of officers to two years from one year.

Suggestions/Idea Bin

EM:

  • Skits draw larger audiences than CPSs.

QL:

  • Informal lunch gatherings to be a very effective way of connecting with SIGMAA-QL members at conferences.

RUME:

  • At the annual Conference on Research in Undergraduate Mathematics Education we awarded the second annual “Best Paper Award.” The recipient received $200 and recognition of this accomplishment. In addition to recognizing high quality work, this award serves the purpose of encouraging members to prepare their work for publication and broad dissemination. 

    In order to encourage conference participants to prepare their work for publication, authors of all accepted proposals were encouraged (but not required) to submit a previously unpublished paper for an electronic proceedings. Accepted papers were published in an online conference proceedings, available on the SIGMAA on RUME website. 

    As a way to mentor new researchers into the field, newer researchers had the option of having their paper be considered for selection of pre-journal submission review by more experienced researchers. Up to four promising papers of newer researchers were assigned reviewers to help authors get their paper ready for submission to a journal.

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