Chocolate Friday is a research and idea-sharing event sponsored by the University of North Carolina at Asheville's National Environmental Modeling and Analysis Center (NEMAC). Typically, each Chocolate Friday features presentations from NEMAC staff, UNCA faculty, student researchers, and visiting professionals. The event is open to anyone who is interested.
And yes, chocolate is served!
A bonus Chocolate Friday event "Improving Science and Math Education" will be held April 4th in the Chestnut Ridge Room in the UNCA Reuter Center . America struggles with science and math education as well as technical literacy; too many students are deficient and too many teachers not well qualified. At the same time, schools are increasingly challenged; almost half the public school students in the South are now in poverty. As a result, American innovation and competitiveness is weakened. In Asheville and Buncombe County, employers -- such as Mission Hospital -- struggle to find mathematically competent employees and thus weaken our own innovation and competitiveness.
These talks demonstrate three approaches taken by UNC Asheville to address those challenges: a community-campus project, programs to improve the K-12 to campus linkage, and an innovative mathematics program for college students.
Janet Moore, Director of Community Relations and Marketing, Mission Hospitals
Harry Harrison, Executive Director YMI Cultural Center; Former CEO, African American Museum of Philadelphia; VP Museum of African American History in Detroit.
An innovative approach to combining civil rights and numeracy was pioneered by Robert Moses, a civil rights veteran and organizer of "The Algebra Project." The Algebra Project seeks to impact the struggle for citizenship and equality by assisting students in the inner city and rural areas to achieve mathematics literacy. The project has successfully engaged students in higher order thinking and problem solving; as a result, the Project has spread through many states. On February 27, Mission Hospital funding and strong community support brought Robert Moses for a day and half of workshops and presentations. This presentation describes how this approach developed in the US and the potential application of similar numeracy initiatives here.
Sam Kaplan, Associate Professor Mathematics
The National Academy of Science Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy has determined that improving mathematics and science education would vastly improve the pool of students interested in pursuing STEM disciplines at advanced levels and entering math and science related Þelds. Preparing the workforce for the 21st century is one of the NSF's 2008 budget priorities including programs that encourage student interest in STEM Þelds at all grade levels as well as programs that build bridges between PÐ12 and higher education.
This presentation describes ongoing efforts of the UNC Asheville Mathematics Department to work with the Asheville City and Buncombe County School systems to improve the problem-solving skills of its teaching staff, increase the number of UNC Asheville Math majors serving the schools and tutors, and bolster the math literacy of the Asheville area workforce.
Patrick Bahls, Assistant Professor Mathematics
The UNC Asheville Mathematics Department is home to an NSF-sponsored Research Experience for Undergraduates summer site program. During the summer of 2007, eight undergraduate Mathematics majors from various colleges and universities nationwide came to UNC Asheville to perform original research in mathematics. Having been provided the opportunity to explore unsolved mathematical problems early in their academic careers, these students have been given a head start as researchers, fortifying their interest and proficiency in math research and giving them an edge in obtaining competitive offers from graduate schools. Moreover, they are now well on their way to joining in the international community of scholars in their field. This presentation describes the structure of the program and examines the experience of the first cohort of students to take part in it.
Stay tuned for more Chocolate Fridays in 2008!
March 28: Water Resources
April 25: Land Use Planning
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Contact Susan Weatherford (250-3890)
