This "Introduction to Mathematics Profession" class is
coordinated by
Graduate Chair,
M. Peszynska, with participation by other Mathematics Graduate
Faculty, and guests.
Students who complete this class will have satisfied the Ethics
component of graduate study required by Graduate School.
Class content: We will dicuss the ethics of the
profession and more generally "responsible conduct of research", and
how this is applied in our field of mathematics. There will be also
meetings with Dr Swisher and Dr Beisiegel to discuss teaching issues.
We will also discuss career options for mathematicians, developing
skills and techniques to identify/ apply/ compete for/ and suceed in
(i) academia, (ii) government, (iii) industry, and other careers. We
will touch upon mathematical writing and presentations, and techniques
for research using library and online tools.
As we continue towards Spring, we will talk about how to choose an
major professor/adviser who would guide you through the rest of your
graduate study. There will be a few visits from Mathematics Graduate
Faculty and other professionals who would present research and career
opportunities in their area. We will ALSO include visits of Mathematics
graduate alumni.
Meetings: We will meet on Wednesdays noon
in STAG 160 (Spring term), and STAG 112 (Winter term).
Grading is on S/U basis.
Attendance in all but one class
meetings is required for an S grade. In extenuating circumstances (when
more absences are inevitable), please contact the Instructor.
The class will be run as a "flipped" classroom: reading of some
materials will be assigned, and students are expected to come to the class
meetings prepared for discussion.
The materials and HW will be posted/sent by email, and HW will be
usually due weekly by Friday afternoon. It is the student's
responsibility to read the materials ahead of the meeting.
Active participation in discussions and class activities is
required. This will include answering to polls, emails, and similar,
as dictated by class schedule.
Special arrangements for students with disabilities: please contact the instructor and Services for Students with
Disabilities prior to or during the first week of the term to discuss
accommodations. Students who believe they are eligible for
accommodations but who have not yet obtained approval through DAS
should contact DAS immediately at 737-4098.
Course drop/add information is at
http://oregonstate.edu/registrar/.
Student Conduct: All students are expected to obey to OSU's student
conduct regulations, see
OSU's Statement of Expectations for Student Conduct
at this link
http://studentlife.oregonstate.edu/sites/studentlife.oregonstate.edu/files/student_conduct_code_1.pdf,
and specifically the information about Academic or Scholarly
Dishonesty beginning on p.2. In particular, please consult the
definitions of (A) CHEATING, (C) ASSISTING, and (E) PLAGIARISM, as
well as recommended handling.
Topic: Ethics in Mathematics, Part 1. Read
AMS
Ethics Guidelines, and Chapter 13 from O'Leary's book. We will
discuss part IV later.
Discussion: contemporary issue in which you think
mathematics/mathematicians are involved and in which ethical questions
arise.
HW Assignmentdue Fri 1/19/18 by 5:00pm. (a) Give an
example of ethics violation for parts I, II, III. (b) Describe your
own (or someone else's) experience in which you feel the guidelines
were not followed, or would not apply.
Topic:What does doing research (in mathematics) mean? Is
(most of) research (in mathematics) innovative or incremental?
Discussion: based on
http://www.pnas.org.ezproxy.proxy.library.oregonstate.edu/content/51/6/1055
and
http://www.uq.edu.au/student-services/learning/seven-secrets-doctoral-success
See also http://www.uq.edu.au/student-services/learning/drivers-of-research
HW Assignmentdue Fri 1/26/18 by 5:00pm. Which core
class would you take the further your understanding of at least three
of Millenium problems. See, e.g., the fields described in
http://math.mit.edu/research/index.php
Are the Millenium problems the most important in mathematics research?
1/31/18: Meet the alumni: Kirk McDermott.
Topic: Mathematical writing and presentations. What does it mean
to publish/present your research?
Discussion: based on (A) https://www.siam.org/pdf/news/1876.pdf
and (B) https://www.elsevier.com/connect/8-reasons-i-accepted-your-article
HW Assignmentdue Fri 2/2/18 (a) Give one example from
your own or someone else's recent presentation which belongs to
(A). (b) Which category from (B) does the paper "H=W" belong to? (The
paper will be sent in a separate email).
Topic: Library resources for research in
Mathematics. MathSciNet vs Google Scholar, Web of Science, and other
search engines. What are the citations, whom to cite, and how.
Activities: find the articles as directed by the
librarian. Gauge interests/influence by citations.
Example 1: an influential article which appeared in conference
proceedings rather than peer-reviewed journal. Careful with author name!
Example 2: a review article with a follow up 20 years later. Which one
is more cited.
Example 3: paper is hard to find in spite of easy-to-remember-title
HW due Fri 2/9: Analyze the impact of the article "H-W" on
MathSciNet and Google Scholar. Find articles citing it, one with
smallest number of citations, and one with the largest number of
citations. Should you cite the original or the other papers, or both?
2/14/18: Meet the alumni: Erica Rode.
Topic: Choosing a topic/major professor.
Discussion: Based on Chapter 7, "How to choose an adviser" from
O'Leary's book. Also more
general adviser-mentor seeking with pointers on what to do when
you change your mind. Finally, read this lightly written article on
"Care
and Maintenance of Your Adviser" by Kearns and Gardiner, on styles
of advising and adviser-advisee relationships.
GD will present a list of faculty who expressed interest in advising.
HW due May 25: Describe the activities you undertook when seeking a research area and seeking an adviser.
2/21/18: Guests: Juan Restrepo, Chris Larson
Topic: Interdisciplinary opportunities, careers, and skills for non-academic careers
2/28/18: (Professors Beisiegel and Swisher)
Topic: Video case studies
3/7/18: Guests: MATH ED Group
Topic: Mathematics Ed Research and training.
3/14/18: Meet the alumni: Sooie-Hoe Loke.
Guests: Enrique Thomann, Manny Hur.
Topic: Actuarial and math finance careers.
Weekly Schedule (Spring):
4/4/18: (MP) Meet the alumni: Patricia Medina. New term advising.
Topic: Introduction to responsible conduct of research and conflict of interest.
Please read
National Academy of Sciences: Responsible conduct of research.
1. Please read: Introduction. Treatment of data. Discovering an error. Mistakes and negligence.
2. Recall how NSF defines
CoI (Conflict of Interest) for its employees. (read just the first
lines up to 5301.103 Outside employment abd activities.)
HW due 4/13: please answer the following questions: (i) If a
mathematician makes a mistake in the proof and publishes it, what
should they do when they discover this mistake? (ii) If your colleague
makes a mistake in their published work, what should you do? (iii) If
you serve on some awards committee, and your brother in law is one of the
nominees, what should you do? What if you chair this committee
comprised of two people.
Further materials to read (optional):Order of
authorship, Publish or perish.
4/11/18: (MP, Koslicki, DeLeenheer) Opportunities in math bio
4/18/18: (HS) Teaching check
4/25/18: (MP) Meet the alumni: Duncan McGregor. Research presentations: Cozzi, Ossiander
5/2/18: (HS/MB) Transition from GTA to Instructor
5/9/18: (MP) Responsible conduct of research.
Topic: Ethics in publishing. Read
SIAM article from https://www.siam.org/journals/plagiarism.php. Read
also "Nefarious numbers" (AMS Notices)
https://www.ams.org/notices/201103/rtx110300434p.pdf
http://www-users.math.umn.edu/~arnold/integrity.html
http://www-users.math.umn.edu/~arnold/papers/impact-factors.pdf
Discussion: how to avoid plagiarism.
HW due 5/11/18 Write a half-page ''paper" in which you prove a
``mock'' lemma based on some result from the paper "H=W". Do not
include your name; we will use your solutions for class activity. Your
solution should be typed, with proper symbols etc.
5/16/18: (MP) Responsible conduct of research. Case studies.
Topic: Discovering an error. Research misconduct. Publishing.
Reading:
(Marie and Yuan) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK214565/
Activity: based on previous HW.
HW due 5/18/18: provide answers to at least one question
per section as above.
5/23/18: (MP & Robert Higdon & Eemerald Stacy & Sam Smith)
Topic: Professional development; job search etc. Start now!
Materials: provided by email.
HW due 5/25/18: Describe the activities you undertook when seeking a research area and seeking an adviser.