Dusty Wilson

Discussion Seminar 0: Understanding the Tech

Overview: The purpose of this assignment is to make sure that you know how to access the tech in this class.

Instructions: Answer the following and upload your results as a pdf into Gradescope (check your email for an invite to Gradescope).  Include the questions on your document

1.) General Questions: Name (and what you want to be called), major, and how many quarters have you attended Highline
2.) Life questions: Are you and your family safe (COVID/health)? Are you stable economically? How are you feeling about the racial unrest in America?  How (if at all) are you impacted by the war in Ukraine (or other wars/conflicts)?
3.) Class/school: What (if anything) is the best/worst part about returning to face-to-face college? What (if anything) may I do as your instructor to support you at this time?
4.) Accessing the apps/web used in this class
        a.) Canvas: What is the class image?
        b.) MyLabs: How many questions are in assignment, "1.1: Systems of Linenar Equations"
        c.) Dusty's Webpage:
                - What color highlighter did I use on the completed workalong for 1.1 of the class website? 
                - How many completed workalongs are linked on the class website?
                - How many minutes long are the two 1.1 videos? 
        d.) YouTube: Dusty is not (yet) a famous YouTuber.  Which of the video on his channel has the most views?
        e.) Slack: There are four channels we will use on Slack. 
                - General: This is where I will make announcements and you should ask general questions about the class (i.e., What sections are on the Assessment?)
                - Homework: This is where you will post questions and answers to homework questions
                - Study groups: This is where you can post about upcoming study groups.  Please share where and when you most often study math.
                - Random: You can post about club meetings, off campus gatherings, and fun stuff.
        f.) Gradescope: Upload your responses as a pdf into Gradescope under assignment "Slack 0"

Discussion Seminar I: Letters from Previous Students

Overview: The purpose of this assignment is to help you get the most from this class by having you reflect upon what former students have shared.

Instructions: Please read three letters from past students.  Use your observations of the letters and reflections upon your own skills and ablities as a mathematician to answer the following.  Include the questions on your document and bring a physical (paper) copy to class.

0.) What is your name?  In general, do you like to hear your name spoken?  (Dale Carnegie said: "Remember that a person's name is to that person, the sweetest and most important sound in any language.")
1.) Please read (at least) three letters from my former students. Please choose letters randomly using a random number generator.
2.) What is one similarily you have with these students ... one difference
3.) What are two habits they indicate will help you be successful?
4.) What are two questions/concerns that the letters address?
5.) Having read the letters, you now have a sense for how this class may foster broader math skills. What mathematical skills and abilities would you like to develop this quarter? If you need somewhere to start, here is an article on 10 skills and abilities that math students develop. 

Overview: The purpose of this assignment is to reflect on how the virtue "Justice" relates to mathematics, the study of math, and math classrooms (including this one).

Instructions: Please read the chapter on Justice (here) from Francis Su's book Mathematics for Human Flourishing. Then answer the discussion questions below in writing. Include the questions on your document and bring a physical (paper) copy to class.

Note: The article is around 15 pages long, but should be very readable. Some math topics are referenced that you may not be familiar with. That is okay and not required to answering the questions. For more information on the book, a review is here and the Francis' talk that inspired the book is here.

0.) What is your name? Do you have a story to share about meeting someone with your same name? (If so, go for it! If not, that is okay too).
1.) If people have realized that the way we teach math needs to change, why hasn't it changed yet? Who benefits from keeping it the same way it has always been? Explain.
2.) All of us unwittingly harbor bias, so how can we mitigate bias in mathematical spaces? Who is harmed by bias in mathematical spaces, and why?
3.) What inequities do you notice in mathematical spaces? Who is harmed by those inequities? Think deeper than the obvious answers.
4.) What can be done to make this class more equitable? What can you do? we do? the teacher do?

Discussion Seminar III: Markov Chains

Overview: Google's 2019 revenue was about $160 billion.  That is a lot of money and so we might wonder how it all started?  It's origin was as a really effective search engine founded on an algorithm (process) originally called PageRank.  As a $160,000,000,000/year question, it seems work understanding a bit of how that works, but that is going to take us a couple of lessons.  There is no linear algebra in this lesson, but it will come once we now a little more.

Instructions: Watch this video that uses chess to illustrate Markov Chains.  Then answer the discussion questions below in writing. Include the questions on your document and bring a physical (paper) copy to class.

0.) What is your name?  What does it mean?  (mine is Dustin which means valient fighter)
1.) In order to understand PageRank, we first must learn something about Markov Chains.  What is a Markov Chain?
2.) Have you ever played chess?  How/what do you know about chess?
3.) According to the video, a Markov Chain is made up of two things __________ and ___________.  What is a stationary distribution?
4.) At the end of the video, you are asked to determine the average number of moves before a rook returns to the corner.  What is the answer?
5.) Do you like learning about applications of mathematics?  Why or why not?  What applications are the most interesting to you?

Discussion Seminar IV: History of Linear Algebra

Overview: This is the first of two assignments on the historical development of linear algebra.  The focus is on content and timeline. 

Instructions: Please read this article.  (It is okay to skim the article).  Then answer the discussion questions below in writing. Include the questions on your document and bring a physical (paper) copy to class.

0.) What is your name?  Do you have a nickname?  (Other than my nickname Dusty, I was also called Chewie and Encyclopedia)
1.) When and where did linear algebra begin? By way of comparison, look up when/where/by whom was the calculus discovered/invented?
2.) What mathematicians play a prominent role in the history of linear algebra (their name is mentioned at least three times)?
3.) What percent of the article is about determinants? What percent of our course is about determinants? Why do you think there is such a difference?
4.) What is the difference between proofs by Cayley, Hamilton, Kronecker, and Weierstrass and what we are learning as exemplified by Frobenius?
5.) How have applications of linear algebra changed?  (This will require you to refer to things taught in class and not in the article).
6.) What are insights you have into mathematics and education after reading this history?

 Discussion Seminar V: The Seven Baby Steps

Overview: We had a brief discussion about Dave Ramsey's Seven Baby Steps to financial success.

Overview: This assignment asks you to take on one of the great mysteries of mathematics.  Have you ever wondered where math comes from?  Is mathematics discovered or invented?  At a simple level, this comes down to two facts that are in tension.  First, every mathematician we have ever heard of is human.  On the other hand, there is something that is seemingly transcendent about math: Why do pi, e, and the golden ratio keep appearing in our work and in nature?  Phrased another way, why aren't there citations in a math book?

Instructions: Please watch these short videos (Where Math Comes From? (video and video)) and then answer the following.

0.) What is your name?  How many of your family members have attended College and how (if at all) does this influence you?
1.) Why might some mathematicians believe math is invented?
2.) Why might other mathematicians believe math is discovered?
3.) Do you believe math is invented or discovered?  Why?
4.) How confident are you in your response?

Discussion Seminar VII: Letter to a Future Student

Overview: This week you have a chance to reflect, direct, and encourage a future student. 

Instructions: Please write a 1+ page letter to my future students.  Include the parts listed below, but you do NOT need to include these headings ... I mean, this is supposed to be a letter so make it look like one:-).

1.) Introduce yourself, what you are majoring in, and a bit about your background.
2.) What were some of the challenges you faced this quarter (personally or as a student) and how did you make it through?
3.) What advice do you have for being successful in a class taught by Dusty?
4.) What are the good parts of the flipped class model?  What made it challenging for you?
5.) Please end your letter with something to encourage the reader.