Cross Program Activities A fundamental goal of the entire PCMI program is the interaction of the participants from different sectors of the mathematical enterprise. To that end, Cross-Program Activities are held several times each week on topics of general interest to all participants. Cross-Program Activities include all-institute presentations on issues involving the teaching and learning of mathematics, small group discussions, and panel presentations. Additional topics of discussion will be drawn from elementary or classical mathematics. Highlights of this year's Cross Program Activity include the formation of two Cross Program Working Groups, involving participants from each of the six programs at the Summer Session. The first Cross Program Working Group will be built around the Mathematics Teaching Lab, described in the Mathematics Education Research Program web page. The second Cross Program Working Group will be informed by a master class at the secondary/undergraduate level and a presentation "How I think about my teaching" by mathematician/computer scientist Steven Rudich. The working group will be given a specific task around the theme of knowledge of mathematics for teaching. The goal of the group is to prepare a lecture/lesson/activity in combinatorics utilizing the method of Japanese lesson study. The product of this group will be a one-hour cross program presentation all PCMI participants. In addition to the activities highlighted above, other all-institute presentations will be given, and time will be set aside for more casual interaction. Social Activities PCMI seeks to foster casual interaction and collaboration among its participants through a variety of informal activities such as evening construction parties, pizza parties, opening and closing barbecue dinners, swim parties, and movie nights. Volunteers are solicited to organize hiking and sightseeing trips and help with other social activities. Computer Lab A temporary computer lab is available for use by classes and by individual participants. The lab, which is monitored by a lab assistant, is equipped with a variety of computer hardware and software in order to provide a resource for educational and computational work as well as Internet access. User accounts are provided for every participant. The computer lab is used for classes during a part of each day, and may be reserved by any of the programs for seminars or working groups. Generally, it is open to all participants in the afternoon and evening. Library The on-site Library will contain a selection of volumes on this year’s research and education topics, as well as other mathematical topics. Special requests for books not available on site will be filled by the Library of the Schools of Mathematics and Natural Sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study. |
