Undergraduate Researchers Present Work at Mathematics Conference

Oct. 24, 2012

FLORENCE, Ala. – Six students on the University of North Alabama’s Math and Computer Science Undergraduate Research Team presented their work at the second annual Kennesaw Mountain Undergraduate Mathematics Conference last week at Kennesaw State University in northwest Georgia.

Students and faculty were invited to make 15-minute presentations on topics in their fields of research. The conference included about 140 participants from eight states across the Southeast, according to Yuliya Babenko, an assistant professor at Kennesaw State.

“Our student presentations were well received, and students responded competently and confidently to questions from the audience,” said Dr. Cynthia Stenger, interim chair of the UNA Department of Mathematics. “In fact, one of the moderators commented that they were pleased to see our level of participation ranging from students just beginning to study mathematics to students who had several years of experience. I think we really made a positive impression.”

In September, two teams of undergraduate researchers at UNA launched both a physical and computer-simulated rocket to develop alternative teaching methods using projectile motion. The lessons are for high-school level algebra and college-level calculus classes. Both teams presented their findings at the conference.

Their conference presentations included:

“Interval 3-graph Impropriety,” presented by Josh Reinoehl, of Glendora, Calif.

“Using Rocket Flight as a Pedagogical Tool for Teaching Projectile Motion,” presented by Ryan Paine, of Florence, and Atticus Wright, of Loretto, Tenn.

“Finding and Correcting the Error in York’s Equation for Analytically Calculating the Slope and Intercept Using Generalized Linear Least Squares Analysis,” presented by Alex Edwards, of Florence.

“Using Simulation of a Rocket Launch as a Teaching Tool in a Calculus Classroom,” presented by Baillie Haddock, of Waterloo, and Ben Moore, of Loretto, Tenn.

The students were accompanied by their supervising faculty mentors, who included Stenger as well as Dr. Shilpa Dasgupta, assistant professor of mathematics; Dr. James Jerkins, instructor in computer science; and Dr. Jessica Stovall, assistant professor of mathetmatics.

Photos of the UNA team at the conference are posted on the Kennesaw State Facebook page.