Section NExT-WI

2021 Fall Conference

The Section NExT-WI 2021 Fall Conference was held virtually through Zoom on Saturday, October 23, 2021. The conference consists of talks given by an invited speaker and participants regarding teaching, scholarship of teaching and learning, experiences with leading undergraduate research, and other topics.

Invited Speaker: Lara Pudwell, Valparaiso University (personal website)

Dr. Pudwell is a full professor in the Department of Mathematics & Statistics at Valparaiso University. She has extensive experience facilitating undergraduate research projects both within and beyond REU summer offerings, and she co-authored the book A Mathematician’s Practical Guide to Mentoring Undergraduate Research with Michael Dorff and Allison Henrich. Dr. Pudwell will be speaking with us about mentoring undergraduate mathematics research projects.

Finding Your Direction in Undergraduate Research

Mentoring undergraduates in mathematics research involves many considerations: What are characteristics of a good problem for students? What is an appropriate amount of guidance to provide? What are some unexpected snags a new mentor is likely to encounter? We’ll also discuss a variety of positive research outcomes, beyond proving new theorems, that can be used to define a successful research experience for students.