Organizing Committee
- Ruth Crane
Brown University - Maria Lorenz
Temple University - Irina Mitrea
Temple University - Katharine Ott
Bates University - Allison Pacelli
Williams College
Abstract
GirlsGetMath is a weeklong mathematics summer day-program for 9th and 10th grade high school girls in the Providence, RI area.
GirlsGetMath occurs in an encouraging environment that builds young women's confidence in math and science.
GirlsGetMath expands participants' understanding and knowledge of mathematics through computations and experimentations.
GirlsGetMath provides expert mathematical training and mentoring.
GirlsGetMath@ICERM 2014 is the first of what will become a replicable national model of mathematical outreach for high school girls, with an emphasis on mathematical experimentation.
This five-day non-residential mathematics program is open to high school girls from the greater Providence, RI area who will have just completed either grade 9 or grade 10 by July 2014.
GirlsGetMath@ICERM will encourage 25 young women to explore, and invite them to excel in, the mathematical sciences. Accomplished professional women, enthusiastic about serving as career models as well as scientific mentors, will lead the program. Potential topics include: cryptography, the mathematics of voting, image processing, prime numbers and factoring, and fractals.
The goals of the program are:
- to show high school women that the study of mathematics can be exciting, beautiful, and useful
- to build confidence in students' mathematical knowledge through engaging and expert mathematical instruction
- to introduce high school students to a variety of career opportunities in which sophisticated mathematical ability plays a key role
- to emphasize the strategic role mathematics plays for success in STEM careers
- to provide the participants with a support group and expert mentors who are successful undergraduate, graduate students and professionals from the STEM workforce
- to have a positive influence on the way students view their mathematical interest and ability
Program Details
- Instructors
- The faculty organizers will be joined by undergraduate, graduate students and postdocs who will serve as teaching fellows in the program.
- Location
- Pandemic permitting, the program will take place at the Institute for Computational and Experimental Research in Mathematics (ICERM) on the Brown University campus.
- Participant Requirements
-
- Students must not have attended a previous GirlsGetMath@ICERM program
- Students must be in the 10th or 11th grade in the fall of 2014
- Students must live in or near the greater Providence, RI area
- Students must ask one math teacher to submit a letter of reference
- Tuition
- Tuition is $100. Full financial aid is available. Daily lunch included.
GirlsGetMath Schedule
Monday, July 14, 2014
| Time | Event | Location | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:00 - 9:50am EDT | Warm Up Session: Thomas Jefferson and Codes | 11th Floor Lecture Hall | |
| 10:00 - 10:50am EDT | Nature, the Fibonacci Numbers, and the Golden Ratio | ||
| 11:00 - 11:50am EDT | How Long is the Coast of Britain?: An Introduction to Fractals | 11th Floor Lecture Hall | |
| 11:50 - 1:00pm EDT | Lunch | 11th Floor Collaborative Space | |
| 1:00 - 1:50pm EDT | GirlsGetMatlab - A First Look at MatLab Coding | 11th Floor Lecture Hall | |
| 2:00 - 2:45pm EDT | LAB - Let's Matlab Code | ||
| 2:45 - 3:30pm EDT | LAB - Lab Matlab |
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
| Time | Event | Location | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:00 - 9:50am EDT | Warm Up Session: Polyhedra and Origami | 11th Floor Lecture Hall | |
| 10:00 - 10:50am EDT | Life is Linear: Introduction to Matrix Arithmetic | 11th Floor Lecture Hall | |
| 11:00 - 11:50am EDT | Factoring Matrices | 11th Floor Lecture Hall | |
| 11:50 - 1:00pm EDT | Lunch | 11th Floor Collaborative Space | |
| 1:00 - 1:50pm EDT | Building a Search Engine | 11th Floor Lecture Hall | |
| 2:00 - 2:45pm EDT | LAB - Matrix Arithmetic in Matlab | ||
| 2:45 - 3:30pm EDT | LAB - Search Engines |
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
| Time | Event | Location | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:00 - 9:50am EDT | Warm Up Session: The Blue-Eyed Islanders | 11th Floor Lecture Hall | |
| 10:00 - 10:50am EDT | Introduction to Modular Arithmetic | 11th Floor Lecture Hall | |
| 11:00 - 11:50am EDT | Identification Numbers and Check Digit Schemes | 11th Floor Lecture Hall | |
| 11:50 - 12:00pm EDT | Group Photo | 11th Floor Lecture Hall | |
| 12:00 - 1:00pm EDT | Lunch | 11th Floor Collaborative Space | |
| 1:00 - 1:50pm EDT | Elementary Cryptography | 11th Floor Lecture Hall | |
| 2:00 - 2:45pm EDT | LAB - Check the Digits | ||
| 2:45 - 3:30pm EDT | LAB - Break the Code |
Thursday, July 17, 2014
| Time | Event | Location | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:00 - 9:50am EDT | Warm Up Session:The Fold-and-Cut Problem | 11th Floor Lecture Hall | |
| 10:00 - 10:50am EDT | Image Transformations using Matrices | 11th Floor Lecture Hall | |
| 11:00 - 11:50am EDT | Image Filtering 1 | 11th Floor Lecture Hall | |
| 11:50 - 1:00pm EDT | Lunch | 11th Floor Collaborative Space | |
| 1:00 - 1:50pm EDT | Image Filtering 2 | 11th Floor Lecture Hall | |
| 2:00 - 2:45pm EDT | LAB - Transforming Images | ||
| 2:45 - 3:30pm EDT | LAB - Filters |
Friday, July 18, 2014
| Time | Event | Location | Materials |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:00 - 9:50am EDT | Warm Up Session - Jeopardy! | 11th Floor Lecture Hall | |
| 10:00 - 10:50am EDT | Introduction to Prime Numbers and Modular Exponentiation | 11th Floor Lecture Hall | |
| 11:00 - 11:50am EDT | Exponentiation Ciphers | 11th Floor Lecture Hall | |
| 11:50 - 1:00pm EDT | Lunch | 11th Floor Collaborative Space | |
| 1:00 - 1:50pm EDT | Primality Testing | 11th Floor Lecture Hall | |
| 2:00 - 2:45pm EDT | LAB - Break the Code, II | ||
| 2:45 - 3:30pm EDT | LAB - Is it (not) Prime? | ||
| 3:30 - 4:30pm EDT | Award Ceremony | 11th Floor Lecture Hall |
2014 Participating Institutions
- Barrington Christian Academy
- Barrington High School
- Beacon Charter High School for the Arts
- Cumberland High School
- LaSalle Academy
- Paul Cuffee Upper School
- Portsmouth Abbey School
- Rocky Hill School
- South Kingstown High School
- St. Mary Academy Bay View
- Tiverton High School
- The Wheeler School
- West Warwick High School
Purpose of Program
Despite the fact that jobs in STEM are multiplying and pay better than other careers, women remain woefully underrepresented in science, technology, engineering and math jobs. Some of this imbalance may be traced back to attitudes about mathematics and sciences in middle school and high school. There is a documented decline in girls’ positive feels about mathematics beginning in middle school, and from this point forward girls are far less likely than their male peers to choose elective courses in mathematics and the sciences[1][2]. The absence of girls in mathematics and science elective courses is especially severe among low-income and disadvantaged students. Research has shown that school-aged girls may not realize that their preferred career choice requires coursework in mathematics and sciences[3], so these decisions can have long lasting consequences.
GirlsGetMath@ICERM aims to build knowledge and confidence in mathematics ability early in education, ultimately shaping the way the students view themselves and their mathematical interests and potential. The program will:
- Demonstrate through hands-on activities, games, and computer simulations that the study of mathematics can be exciting, beautiful and useful;
- Introduce the high school participants to a variety of career opportunities for which sophisticated mathematical ability plays a key role, with an emphasis on the central role mathematics plays for success in STEM careers; and
- Provide the participants with a support group of like-minded peers and mentors.
- An outstanding feature of the GirlsGetMath@ICERM program is its commitment to quality. The program content is created by Ph.D. mathematicians who collectively have many years of experience as researchers and educators. The content is chosen to be at the appropriate level for the participants, but at the same time challenging, useful, and engaging to high school students. The Faculty Organizers of GirlsGetMath are college and university faculty in mathematics with experience leading summer mathematics programs for students. The Teaching Assistants are undergraduate and graduate students in mathematics and computer science.
References:
[1] J. Blue and D. Gann, When do girls lose interest in math and science?, Science Scope, (2008).
[2] J. Wilkins and X. Ma, Modeling change in students attitude toward and beliefs about mathematics, Journal of Educational Research, (2007).
[3] L. Pettitt, Middle School Students’ Perception of Math and Science Abilities and Related Careers, 61st Biennial Meeting of Research in Child Development, (1995).
