FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Truman Faculty and Students Present at National Mathematics Meeting

Report on work done with support from the National Science Foundation

A group of faculty and students from the Mathematics & Computer Science Department travel to San Diego, CA, to present at the annual meeting of the Mathematics Association of America and the American Mathematical Society.

Jane, Scott, Allie, and Kirah enjoying the sun in San Diego in January.

At the 2008 meeting of the Mathematics Association of America and the American Mathematical Society, several Truman faculty and students present the results of grant-supported work they conducted in 2007.

Prof. K. Scott Alberts (Associate Professor of Statistics) presented with his collaborator, Prof. Jane Roads (Chair of Mathematics and Science, Moberly Area Community College), a talk titled "Studying Math Anxiety: A Case Study in Cooperation between a University and a Community College." This work is an ongoing collaboration between Truman State University and Moberly Area Community College and and has been supported by Truman's "The Next STEP" program (NSF DUE 0431664).

Prof. Jason Miller (Associate Professor of Mathematics) gave a talk titled "Field Trips Motivate Students to Pursue Mathematics" in which he described a long-running field trip program shows students what they can do with their STEM major by bringing them to business and organizations that employ students in STEM areas. He also presented two posters that describe two five-year grant-supported programs at Truman. The poster, "The Next STEP: Integrating STEM Learning Communities," described work done with Jennifer Thompson (The Next STEP Office) and Maria Nagan (Chemistry) and many other faculty in STEM departments at Truman (NSF DUE 0431664). The poster, "Research-focused Learning Communities in Mathematical Biology," described work done with Jon Beck (Computer Science), Michael Kelrick (Biology), Laura Fielden (Biology) and many other faculty and students in the Departments of Biology and Mathematics & Computer Science (NSF DUE 0436348 and 0337769).

Students Allie Wehrman (Mathematics & Computer Science) and Kirah Jerome (Mathematics) presented posters in the Undergraduate Poster Session that described the work they did during the STEP Program's 2007 Summer Undergraduate Research Experience program (NSF DUE 0431664).

###