FYMSiC – First-Year Math & Stats in Canada

FYMSiC News

Announcements

Hello FYMSiC,

Have you ever needed or wanted . . .

To discuss a new course (course content, delivery, assessments, resources, etc.) you are teaching and have no one to reach out to?
Advice and tips on how to write a grant application or a paper?
Collaborators or speakers for an event that you are planning to organize?
To work on a mathematics or mathematics education research project or outreach initiative?

Well, look no further! FYMSiC PROFILES is here! 🙂

Supported by PIMS and CMS, FYMSiC has created FYMSiC Profiles, an accessible online repository whose purpose is to better connect the mathematics community in Canada and beyond. This centralized, password-protected, user-verified repository contains self-entered data about instructors, including professional contact information, courses taught, research interests, research projects, publications, and resources. It is easily searchable, so you can use it to find other members of the community with similar interests!

You can access FYMSiC Profiles through the FYMSiC website: www.firstyearmath.ca

But you need to register!

We will not share the FYMSiC Profile data with anyone.

The only individuals who have access to FYMSiC Profiles are those who were verified when registering for the FYMSiC website.

To register …

Please visit www.firstyearmath.ca .
In the toolbar at the top of the page, click on ‘Register’. (Note that if you registered for a FYMSiC account prior to April 2024, you will need to register again to access FYMSiC profiles as we started on a clean slate.)
On the Create an Account web page, fill out Account Details (username with no spaces, email, and password) and Profile Details (full name, position/job title, institution/company, state/province/territory, and country). After filling in all required fields, click on ‘Complete Sign Up’.
You will have to wait about 48 hours or less to be verified. Once the FYMSiC Team checks your Account and Profile Details, you will receive an email that you are approved.
After the email, you can log into your account and fill in your profile with as much information as you feel comfortable sharing: courses taught, research interests, research projects, publications, and resources. Please think of keywords that would be easily searchable. For example, you can write the course code, but this may not mean anything to someone at a different institution. So, provide a short description of the course such as ‘several variables calculus’. Check out the FYMSiC Profiles of the FYMSiC Team to see how you might want to format your FYMSiC Profile.
You can edit your information at any time when logged into your account. We will contact individuals to do an update ‘spring-cleaning’ once or twice a year.
If you wish for your FYMSiC Profile to be deleted, please email: Andie Burazin a.burazin@utoronto.ca

If you have any questions or comments, please contact: Andie Burazin a.burazin@utoronto.ca

We will send out a reminder email to sign up for FYMSiC Profiles in about a week.

Again, we hope that this initiative helps us all to better connect with the mathematics community in Canada and beyond.

That is FYMSiC’s main goal.

Thanks for joining FYMSiC Profiles! 🙂

Hiho FYMSiC! 🙂

Just passing along a fantastic math education online event by the Canadian Mathematical Society:

2024 CMS MathEd Online Meeting

Dates & Times: Friday, November 22^nd, 2024 (17:00 EST – 20:00 EST) — Saturday, November 23^rd, 2024 (11:00 EST – 15:00 EST)

More information: https://winter24.cms.math.ca/mathedonline

Plenary Lectures:

Brent Davis (University of Calgary) Friday, November 22 | 5pm EST

Brent Davis is from northern Alberta, where he taught secondary school mathematics through most of the 1980s. His research is focused on the educational relevance of recent developments in the cognitive and complexity sciences, and his principal interest is teachers’ disciplinary knowledge of mathematics. Over the past 12 years, through the “Math Minds” project, he has worked with multiple western Canadian school districts to improve the learning of mathematics.

Robert Dawson (Saint Mary’s University) Saturday, November 23 | 11am EST

Robert Dawson did his undergraduate degree in mathematics and physics at Dalhousie, and a PhD at Cambridge. He has taught mathematics courses ranging from statistics to differential equations at Saint Mary’s University for more than thirty years, and has done research on topics ranging from lichenometry to higher-dimensional category theory. In his spare time, he writes science fiction. He believes that the world needs more bicycles.

Call for Presentation Proposals:

For this meeting, we will accept proposals on any theme in mathematics education.

All presentations will be of the standard CMS length: 20-minute presentations + 5-10 minute Q&A.
The deadline for the presentation proposals is Friday, September 27th, 2024.

Over and out, FYMSiC. 🙂

Aaniin FYMSiC! 🙂

A great statistical literacy poster competition for FYMSiC to participate in. Check it out!

Anyone with a project where students need make sense of data this fall may be interested in participating (or they may know of others who teach at a Gr 4-university/college level who would be interested). The project deliverable could be tailored to the competition, or instructors could invite and mentor their students with the strongest projects to translate to a poster to enter into the competition.

More information is available at https://islp.ssc.ca/.

All the best, FYMSiC! 🙂

Top of the hour FYMSiC! 🙂

Another great mathematics education event to have the mic in. Check it out!

Call for Proposals: UW Math Teaching Seminar

We welcome proposals for presentations, workshops, and panel discussions that address any aspect of teaching and learning mathematics, statistics, and computer science. Our seminar is designed to foster dialogue and collaboration on effective teaching strategies and to explore the challenges and opportunities in mathematics, statistics, and computer science education.

We have one spot available for a presentation on Tuesday, October 22, 12:30 – 13:30 PM (Waterloo Time), and several openings for Winter 2025 (days and times to be determined).

Topics of Interest:

Proposals may focus on, but are not limited to:

Innovative teaching methods in mathematics, statistics, and computer science
Use of technology in the classroom
Active learning strategies
Assessment and evaluation techniques
Inclusive teaching practices
Online and hybrid teaching
Mathematical communication and engagement
Peer and student-led learning initiatives
Interdisciplinary approaches in mathematics, statistics, and computer science education

Proposal Requirements:

Please submit the following:

Title of your presentation
Abstract (250–300 words): A brief description of the presentation/workshop, including key points and takeaways for the audience.
Presenter(s) Bio (100 words each): A short biography of the presenter(s) highlighting relevant experience and background.
Preferred Presentation Format: Indicate whether you prefer a presentation, workshop, or panel discussion.

Submission Process:

Please submit your proposals by Friday, October 11, 2024 to Burcu Karabina burcu.karabina@uwaterloo.ca and Chelsea Uggenti cuggenti@uwaterloo.ca.

We look forward to your contributions to enriching our math teaching community!

UW Math Teaching Seminar Organizers (Chelsea Uggenti, Burcu Karabina)

Spread your passion, FYMSiC! 🙂

HI FYMSIC! 🙂

Another fantastic math ed event. Check it out below with poster attached!

Dear Colleagues,

I hope this email finds you well. We are excited to invite you to an upcoming conference focused on innovative approaches to teaching mathematics, which will take place on December 10, 2024, at the Fields Institute (online). This event aims to bring together educators, mathematicians, and researchers who are passionate about advancing the ways mathematics is taught and learned.

The conference will feature a series of insightful talks and a panel discussion on topics such as integrating technology into math education and interdisciplinary teaching methods. Given your interest and expertise in the field, we believe your participation would be greatly valued. Additionally, we kindly ask if you could forward this invitation to any colleagues, fellow educators, or mathematicians who share a passion for enhancing math education. We aim to create a collaborative environment that encourages the exchange of ideas and best practices.

Please find attached the poster and registration information.

http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/activities/24-25/Ada-Lovelace

We would be honored to have you join us for this important discussion.

Thank you for your consideration, and we look forward to the possibility of welcoming you to the conference. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us directly at s.kirusheva@utoronto.ca.

Warm regards,

Snezhana Kirusheva,
Marina Tvalavadze,
Jonathan Herman,

The Department of Mathematical and Computational Sciences (MCS),

University of Toronto Mississauga, Mississauga, ON, Canada

Event Poster: Ada Lovelace Event at Fields Institute

Be tech savvy, FYMSiC! 😉

Hello FYMSiC! ????

Fun times at the meetup. We have two things thanks to the meetup. See below in bold.

Help Out a Fellow FYMSiC Member with Resources:

This message is seeking resources. I am going to be teaching a new course about mathematics as an interdisciplinary pursuit. It is a first year course for students who are not math majors. The mathematical topics can be anything but the students have very little mathematical knowledge. I’m looking for some textbooks to help me build the course content. So far the only book I know of is “How round is your circle” by John Bryant and Chris Sangwin. But I’m really hoping for other resources. If you know of any, please feel free to let me know.

–Amenda Chow (University of York) [ amchow@yorku.ca ]

I’d like to add on to the resource request … Has anyone put together / found / know of learning resources for Sage Math? (Symbolic math environment written in Python, I believe?)

–David Riegert (Trent University) [ davidriegert@trentu.ca ]

MATLAB Online – anyone has worked with it, and created some nice interactive Labs?

–Nora Franzova (Langara College) [ nfranzova@langara.ca ]

Resources Shared at the Meetup on August 22^nd, 2024:

*Jerrod’s Flawed Proof Bank on GitHub https://github.com/smith36j/Flawed-Proof-Bank

*This website has interactive “terminal” / “notebook” to work through the games and to learn the syntax, etc … Not great for first year’s I would assume, but interesting, maybe?

https://adam.math.hhu.de/#/

*I think this is the only publicly available materials from the proof comprehension stuff I mentioned: https://rume.txst.edu/curricular-materials.html

it’s related to two current ongoing NSF grants, which I can link if anyone wants but they’re just the funding info (with an abstract for the projects)

*I have a book on Sage for Undergraduates, but I haven’t actually read it so don’t know how good it is

https://bookstore.ams.org/mbk-143/

*Confy Scratchy: https://confyscratchy-zeta.vercel.app/ two stage MCQ process (thanks Sean Fitzpatrick!)

Karma is a thing, FYMSiC! 🙂

Qué tal, FYMSiC? 🙂

Online is great and accessible, but what about reviving the FYMSiC in-person conference for May 2026?

Scary to think so far into the future, but it does require some thought.

We have a short anonymous Google form for you all to fill out by Tuesday, October 1^st, 2024.

Google form: https://forms.gle/jDZBb7v6DSASWhWk8

Maybe we need to bring in person back, maybe we will stick to online. We just want to get a sense of how FYMSiC feels about gathering the community in person again.

We will communicate the results and decision in October 2024.

That is all, FYMSiC. 🙂

Howdie, FYMSiC! 🙂

Passing along a numeracy education event happening in Toronto this November, thanks to our colleague Luke Tunstall (Trinity University, Texas):

Greetings, colleagues,

There are five months until we gather in Toronto, Canada for the NNN 2024 Annual Meeting! See the site here for the call for proposals and for registration. You will see that the priority deadline for proposals is July 1, 2024.

Additionally, note we are excited to announce our two keynote events!

On Friday, November 8, 2024, we will be joined in person by Kees Hoogland, professor of Mathematical and Analytical Competence of Professionals at the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, The Netherlands. Kees is active as member of the OECD Numeracy Expert Group for PIAAC, and project leader of the Erasmus+ projects: Common European Numeracy Framework and Numeracy in Practice.
On Saturday, November 9, we will have a keynote panel on quantitative centers in higher education; both Canadian and U.S. center leaders will share their experiences and insights into quantitative centers and their role in promoting quantitative reasoning in higher education. Our two lead panelists are Catherine McCune, Director of the Spinelli Center for Quantitative Learning at Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and Chris Stewart, Quantitative Reasoning Coordinator at Quest University in Squamish, British Columbia, Canada.

We hope you are as excited as we are to engage with our keynote presenters.

On a logistical note, for those individuals coming from outside of Canada, now is a good time to check and/or update your passport to ensure you don’t run into any issues in November!

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Best wishes,

Luke

—

Luke Tunstall, Ph.D. (he/him)

Director, Quantitative Reasoning and Skills Center | Lecturer, Department of Mathematics

President, National Numeracy Network

Coates Library 308E | 210.999.8033 | Luke.Tunstall@trinity.edu

Schedule a meeting with me

Let’s be numerate, FYMSiC! 🙂

Congratulations

Awards

Ana Duff (Associate Teaching Professor, Ontario Tech University) received the Ontario Tech Open Education Award (2023) and the Faculty of Business and IT Sustainability in Teaching Award (2023). Press Release: https://news.ontariotechu.ca/archives/2024/05/ontario-tech-university-honours-faculty-and-staff-for-their-exemplary-service.php

Chantal Buteau (Professor of Mathematics, Brock University) received the 2023 Brock University Distinguished Teaching Award. Press Release: https://brocku.ca/brock-news/2023/12/outstanding-faculty-instructors-lauded-for-teaching-excellence/

Christopher Eagle (Associate Teaching Professor, University of Victoria) received the 2024 CMS Excellence in Teaching Award. Press Release: https://cms.math.ca/news-item/dr-christopher-eagle-to-receive-the-2024-excellence-in-teaching-award/

Lauren DeDieu (Associate Professor (Teaching), University of Calgary) received the 2024 Margaret Sinclair Memorial Award. Press Release: https://www.fields.utoronto.ca/news/Dr-Lauren-DeDieu-receives-2024-Margaret-Sinclair-Memorial-Award

Matt Coles (Educational Program Director and Honourary Lecturer, University of British Columbia) received the 2023-2024 UBC Killam Teaching Prize. Press Release: https://www.math.ubc.ca/news-events/awards/apr-16-2024-matt-coles-awarded-killam-teaching-award

Peter Taylor (Professor, Queen’s University) received the 2024 Graham Wright Award. Press Release: https://cms.math.ca/news-item/dr-peter-taylor-named-2024-graham-wright-award-recipient/

Trefor Bazzet (Assistant Teaching Professor, University of Victoria) received the 2024 PIMS Education Award. Press Release: https://www.uvic.ca/science/math-statistics/home/home/announcements/current/2024-bazett-pims-edu-award.php#:~:text=Trefor%20Bazett%20was%20awarded%20the,Congratulations%20Trefor

Edward Dolittle (Associate Professor, First Nations University of Canada) recognized in the CMS 2024 Class of Fellows. Press Release: https://cms.math.ca/news-item/canadian-mathematical-societys-2024-class-of-fellows-announced/

Thank you for all of your hard work and dedication

to mathematics and statistics education!

For past FYMSiC News, please visit the Past News.

FYMSiC Online Teaching Meetups

Online Teaching Meetups are a great virtual space to have a conversation about math and stats teaching and learning with students and educators. Each meetup has a specific theme such as ‘How to teach ‘em math proofs in first-year and beyond?’ or ‘What is CEGEP?’ or ‘Transitioning to university: high school teachers’ experiences and views’, which may be accompanied by a couple of presentations – but for sure, a healthy, therapeutic and cathartic dialogue is always there about teaching and learning!

Upcoming meetup …

♦ Thursday, August 22nd, 2024, at 4:00 p.m. (EDT)

Title: Swimming optimistically towards the new academic year: What is exciting and new?

Abstract: Open discussion and catch up after not seeing each other all summer!

Zoom link: https://utoronto.zoom.us/j/85765477917

Passcode: fymsic

Most recent meetup …

♦ Wednesday, March 20th, 2024, at 4:00 p.m. (EDT)

Title: Let’s focus on content and good examples PART 3

Abstract:

By the end of [blank] course, my students should know or be familiar with the following mathematical content: ____________ , so that they can succeed in subsequent mathematics courses or elsewhere.

First and foremost, we want to THANK all presenters. *You are awesome!* 🙂

To finish off the meet up focus this Winter 2024 term … we will have four presenters give 5–15-minute presentations about the content and possible some good examples of their calculus course or the first-year calculus course sequence:

*Dan Wolczuk (University of Waterloo)

Course Schedules: MATH 127 Course Schedule & MATH 128 Course Schedule

Course Notes: coming soon in April

*Ivan Khatchatourian (University of Toronto Mississauga)

Presentation Slides: MAT137/138 Calculus

*Mark Hamilton (Mount Allison University)

Presentation Slides: “New” Calculus Courses

*Brian Forrest (University of Waterloo)

Presentation Slides: MATH137/138 Calculus for Honours Mathematics

Course and Lecture Notes:

MATH137 https://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/~baforres/UCM137/Lectures/BarbsM137Lectures.html

MATH138

https://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/~baforres/UCM138/Lectures/BarbsM138Lectures.html

If anyone else would like to share things about their calculus course content and good examples, please join the meet up and we will give you the time to shine.

Again, thank you presenters! ^^^

Save the date …

♦ Tuesday, September 24th, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. (EDT)

♦ Tuesday, October 22nd, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. (EDT)

♦ Tuesday, November 19th, 2024, at 5:00 p.m. (EST)

For past FYMSiC Online Teaching Meetups & Events and Resources mentioned and discussed, please visit the Meetups page.

Other Math & Stats Education Events

♦ November 8th — 10th, 2024 [Hybrid]: 2024 National Numeracy Network Annual Meeting, George Brown College, Toronto, Ontario

♦ November 22nd — 23rd, 2024 [Online]: 2024 CMS MathEd (Online) Meeting

♦ November 29th — December 2nd, 2024 [In Person]: 2024 Canadian Mathematical Society Winter Meeting, Richmond/Vancouver, British Columbia

Fields Institute Mathematics Education Forum

Meeting Information: http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/centres/centre-mathematics-education

The Fields Institute Mathematics Education Forum promotes discussion of issues in mathematics education at all levels, with special emphasis on education in the Province of Ontario. The Fields Institute for Research in Mathematical Sciences serves as the host of the Forum, but does not determine the agenda or the conclusions of the Forum. It is the goal of the Forum to consider objectively new ideas and diverse views in mathematics education, to facilitate consensus and to promote the enhancement of mathematics education in Ontario and Canada.

The Forum’s mandate is to foster the development of new ideas, methodologies and materials with respect to possible changes that could improve education in mathematics, and to work for the implementation of such changes.

University of Waterloo Mathematics Teaching Seminar

The Mathematics Teaching Seminar at the University of Waterloo is a biweekly meeting featuring discussions on undergraduate mathematics teaching. Participants in the seminar include lecturers, research faculty, and graduate students from all four of Waterloo’s mathematics departments and the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, as well as faculty members and teaching enthusiasts from around the world. Those who would like to attend are encouraged to reach out to the organizers, Burcu Tuncer Karabina and Chelsea Uggenti.

FYMSiC Newsletter

Current issue …

Issue 15 – July 22nd, 2024

Our sixteenth issue is coming out in January 2025. If you wish to contribute to our Newsletter, please visit the Newsletter page.

Please send your contributions in Microsoft Word or LaTex (source) formats to: newsletter@firstyearmath.ca

For the sixteenth newsletter issue, the contribution deadline is on Friday, January 31st, 2025, by 11:59 p.m. (PST).

FYMSiC Latest Share ….

Takes to the wonderful and wise Barb Forrest (UW), great free first-year calculus course and lecture notes for anyone to use:

Calculus 1 course notes and lectures:

https://www.math.uwaterloo.ca/~baforres/UCM137/Lectures/BarbsM137Lectures.html

Calculus 2 course notes and lectures: