Math 355 - Mathematical Modeling

Project Guidelines

The topics for either the individual project or for the group project can be virtually anything mathematical.  I expect you to use your own interests and resources to choose a topic.  Ideas for topics can be found in your textbook, through other classes, and on the web.  Past contest problems for the Mathematical Contest in Modeling may give you some good ideas - students in past semesters have found it a good source of projects for either the group or the individual project.  The web page for the contest is http://www.comap.com/undergraduate/contests/mcm/.  The problems are fairly in-depth, especially for the individual project.  You might want to look at the high school contest problems for ideas that you can expand on for appropriate and tractable projects.

For each project you will do both a report and a presentation.  As in most mathematical presentations, the presentation should contain the big ideas, including the method(s) used to solve the problem, and the results and the implications of the results.  However, the presentation should not include most of the mathematical details.  In contrast, the paper report will be significantly longer, as it should contain the material presented as well as at least some of the mathematical details.  The report is not a printout of the Mathcad or Powerpoint presentation.  The grading rubrics that I will use to grade the projects are given below for each project.

The individual project presentations will be done in class.  Groups for the group project should be between two and four people, inclusive.  The presentations for the group projects will be done at the Student Academic Conference on April 12.  They will be presentations, not posters, at the SAC. 

If your group wishes to participate in the Mathematical Contest in Modeling, held from 7pm Thursday February 2 to 7pm Monday February 6, I will multiply your numerical grade on the project by 1.2 (giving you 20% extra credit for the project).  Note that in this case, your group can have a maximum of three people.  In addition, I will take into account that the major work of the project was done early in the semester, before much of the material was graded, when I grade your project.  However, you will still be required to present the project at the SAC in April.  In the event that your group is dissatisfied with the problem or the solution from the contest and does a group project on a different topic, I will still multiply the grade on that project by 1.2.

I expect you to pay attention to the other individual project presentations in class and to attend as many of the other group project presentations at the SAC as you can.  There will be questions on the projects on both of the course exams.

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Last Revision:  01/04/2008

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