Mathematics professors Dick Bedient and Sally Cockburn presented a talk titled "The Hamilton College Senior Seminar" at the Summer Meetings of the Mathematical Association of America in San Jose, California. The talk was part of a session called "Getting Students to Discuss and to Write about Mathematics."
In their talk they described the math department's senior seminar program where the goals are to provide students with an opportunity to work on problems of interest, present work orally, learn about the writing of mathematics, and at the same time learn some mathematics.
The experiment has proved remarkably successful, according to Bedient. The math department is now averaging about 40 concentrators, just under 10 percent of the senior class. In their evaluations of the seminar experience students agree to a greater or lesser extent with one student who commented ``It was the most thought provoking class I've ever taken.'
In their talk they described the math department's senior seminar program where the goals are to provide students with an opportunity to work on problems of interest, present work orally, learn about the writing of mathematics, and at the same time learn some mathematics.
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| Sally Cockburn |
