The incoming statistical knowledge of undergraduate majors in a department of mathematics and statistics

Studies have shown that at the end of an introductory statistics course, students struggle with building block concepts, such as mean and standard deviation, and rely on procedural understandings of the concepts. This study aims to investigate the understandings entering freshman of a department of mathematics and statistics (including mathematics education), students who are presumably better prepared in terms of mathematics and statistics than the average university student, have of introductory statistics. This case study found that these students enter college with common statistical misunderstandings, lack of knowledge, and idiosyncratic collections of correct statistical knowledge. Moreover, they also have a wide range of beliefs about their knowledge with some of the students who believe that they have the strongest knowledge also having significant misconceptions. More attention to these statistical building blocks may be required in a university introduction statistics course.     

Twenty years of exceptional success: The molecular education and research consortium in undergraduate computational chemistry (MERCURY)

The molecular education and research consortium in undergraduate computational chemistry (MERCURY) consortium, established in 2000, has contributed greatly to the scientific development of faculty and undergraduates. The MERCURY faculty peer-reviewed publication rate from 2001 to 2019 of 1.7 papers/faculty/year is 3.4 times the rate of the physical science faculty at primarily undergraduate institutions. We have worked with over 1000 students on research projects since 2001, and 75% of our undergraduate research students have been under-represented in chemistry, either female or students of color. Approximately half of our alumni attend graduate school for the purpose of obtaining advanced degrees in STEM fields, and two-thirds are female and/or students of color. We have had more than 1600 attendees at 18 MERCURY conferences, including 111 invited speakers, 61 of whom have been female and/or faculty of color. In this paper, the research accomplishments, transformational outcomes, and scientific productivity of the MERCURY faculty are highlighted.     

第十一届浙江省大学生化学竞赛的评析与体会

大学生化学竞赛的目的在于培养学生的实验综合能力和创新精神,浙江省大学生化学竞赛在近几年做了较大的改革,着重于考查学生的创新思维与综合能力,竞赛的受益面和效果明显提高。以2019年第十一届浙江省大学生化学竞赛为例,对本届的竞赛规则、竞赛模式、研究课题、评分规则以及竞赛存在的问题等方面进行了评析,并提出了一些建议。     

应用型本科院校开展学生科研训练的探索与研究*

大学生创新实践能力的培养是当前高校教育的重要命题,作为一所应用型本科院校,吕梁学院积极探索学生培养新模式,率先在化学化工系开展了人才培养方案改革、扩大实验室开放、“科研小助手”的选拔与培养等工作,项目的实施带动了多方面的变化并产出了一批科研与竞赛成果,为在全校范围全面开展学生科研训练提供了宝贵经验。     

A choice option between proofs in linear algebra

At their final exam in linear algebra students at the author's university were given the possibility to choose between two types of proofs to be done. They could either prove two short statements by themselves or they could explain four steps in a given proof. This paper reports on investigations of students’ responses to the choice option compared to the final grade of their exam: the relation between choice and grade, students’ thoughts about why they preferred one proof to the other, and their opinions on having to choose. The analysis is based on the students’ solutions and answers in questionnaires distributed immediately after the exam. The paper concludes that the students’ opinions do not imply that there is a ‘best way’ of giving a proof, but a choice option is preferred by almost all students regardless of final grade. It is thus asserted that the choice-option-project should continue.     

The classical version of Stokes' theorem revisited

Using only fairly simple and elementary considerations–essentially from first year undergraduate mathematics–we show how the classical Stokes' theorem for any given surface and vector field in ?³ follows from an application of Gauss' divergence theorem to a suitable modification of the vector field in a tubular shell around the given surface. The two stated classical theorems are (like the fundamental theorem of calculus) nothing but shadows of the general version of Stokes' theorem for differential forms on manifolds. However, the main point in the present article is first, that this latter fact usually does not get within reach for students in first year calculus courses and second, that calculus textbooks in general only just hint at the correspondence alluded to above. Our proof that Stokes' theorem follows from Gauss' divergence theorem goes via a well-known and often used exercise, which simply relates the concepts of divergence and curl on the local differential level. The rest of this article uses only integration in 1, 2 and 3 variables together with a ‘fattening’ technique for surfaces and the inverse function theorem.     

A mathematical model for weighing investments

This model assumes three separate investors each with a set amount of money. The full amount is to be invested in six investments, namely: long‐term bonds, short‐term bonds, treasury bonds, common stock, treasury bills, and commercial paper. The investment is made according to weights assigned to safety of principal, growth, current income, taxable income and volatility. The weights are derived by obtaining pairwise comparison matrices and then using an averaging process.     

基于《基本要求》的新建本科院校大学物理实验教学模式研究

针对新建本科院校大学物理实验教学的现状,结合教育部高等学校物理基础课程教学指导分委员会制定的《理工科类大学物理实验课程教学基本要求》,按照"能力培养+成本最小化与效益最大化"的原则,构建了"一个目标、五个模块"的大学物理实验分层次教学课程体系,对大学物理实验"多元化、交互式"的教学模式进行了研究与探讨.     

应用化学专业定位与专业课程体系设计

对新建本科院校应用化学专业定位及课程体系设计进行讨论,认为新建本科院校应用化学专业的定位应是培养化工及相关企业技术开发工作的具体实施人员,设计了由专业基础课程、专业核心课程、专业方向课程、专业实践课程和专业扩展课程等组成的专业课程体系。