The Mathematics and Computer Science Department at Berea College has a strong and long-standing program of research involving faculty and undergraduate students. The following is a summary list of some of ourmore recent research projects that involved undergraduate students.
| Period |
Faculty |
Students |
Topic |
Funding Source |
Summer
2005 |
Pearce & Blackburn-Lynch |
4 |
Creation of a New Robotic Platform and Software |
The National Science Foundation and Berea College |
Summer
2003 |
Pearce & Blackburn-Lynch |
3 |
Dispersion of Robotic Teams |
Berea College |
Summer
2003 |
Hawkins |
1 |
Statistical Study of the Basic Math Program |
Berea College |
Summer
2002 |
Lynch & Wu |
2 |
Spread of the Flu Virus |
Berea College |
Summer
2000 |
Pearce & Lynch |
3 |
Community Development Impact on Flood Plane |
ACA & Berea College |
Summer
1999 |
Lynch & Pearce |
3 |
Environmental Statistical Questions |
Berea College |
Summer
1998 |
Lynch & Pearce |
3 |
Sustainable Forestry Modeling |
ACA |
Summer
1997 |
Lynch & Pearce |
3 |
Chemical Weapon Exposure |
ACA |
Summer
1996 |
Lynch & Pearce |
2 |
Dioxin Dispersion |
ACA |
Summer
1996 |
Lee & Sowell |
3 |
Economics & Math |
ACA |
Summer
1995 |
Lee, Pearce, Rosen |
3 |
Biology & Math |
ACA |
Summer
1994 |
Pearce |
1 |
Number Theory |
Berea College |
Years
1991-94 |
Mathematics Department |
Many |
Incorporating Modeling into Precalculus |
FIPSE |
Summers
1991-92 |
Boyce & Stinebrickner |
8 |
Cluster Analysis |
NSF RUI |
Summer
1990 |
Lee |
1 |
Geometric Modeling |
ACA |
Summer
1989 |
Boyce |
2 |
Cluster Analysis |
Jesse Ball duPont |
Short Term
1989 |
Stinebrickner |
2 |
Cluster Analysis |
Jesse Ball duPont |
Summer
1988 |
Stinebrickner |
3 |
Cluster Analysis |
Jesse Ball duPont |
Impact of Research on Graduate School and/or Career Decisions
- Many students who participate in summer research select graduate programs related to their research projects.
- Participating students write a formal final report and make a formal presentation at a professional conference.
Outreach Activities Related to Research
- The Department has hosted several conferences and sponsored sessions in professional society meetings related to our various research projects.
- The Department’s FIPSE grant of $76,980 between 1991 and 1994 was used primarily to produce curricular materials to support an experiment in intertwining traditional function topics, curve fitting, mathematical modeling, and computer use in an approach to precalculus.
- The 1991-2 RUI project is described in an article which appeared in Newsletter 22 (November 1991) of the Classification Society of North America entitled “Undergraduate research Participation at Berea College.” and more recent departmental research is described in the September 1998 issue of the Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly, subtitled “Community Research: Making a Difference.” In this issue, the article “Undergraduate Research and Grass Roots Organizations: Addressing Controversial Environmental Issues” documents the recent work of the Berea College Mathematics Department research program and offers suggestions on how other departments can make research connections with community organizations, particularly in the field of Mathematics.
An Example of Community-Oriented Applied Mathematics Research
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