ED:Christian vocation in the Messiah mathematics major/Proposal
From The Collaboratory
Contents |
Introduction
Abstract
A critical foundation for the Education Group is a consistent inflow of students in the mathematics major, as well as other majors, who have a mature understanding of the integration of faith and learning and a sense of their Christian vocational calling. The projects that motivated the formation of the Group come from both client organizations and students who have an understanding of work in mathematical sciences as a Christian vocation and calling, in service to our Creator and His kingdom. The purpose of the project discussed in this proposal is to develop and complete the text The Study of Mathematics: Developing a mature understanding of mathematical thought, with consideration of Christian faith and vocation, as a significant tool for department faculty as they seek to fulfill the Mathematical Sciences Department mission. This text, which currently contains three chapters, is the primary resource used in the course MATH 195: First Year Mathematics Seminar. The Mathematical Sciences Department is requesting that Dr. Doug Phillippy revise the existing text into a more complete text, that includes revisions reflecting student feedback from two years use in the course, as well as additional material, with an intentional focus on introducing students in the course to Collaboratory projects as a part of the course curriculum. The project also includes a dissemination component. Dr. Phillippy and/or students involved in this work, will present a summary of the text at the 2009 Summer meeting of the Association of Christians in Mathematical Sciences (to be held at Wheaton College), and, with the support of his department, Dr. Phillippy will seek publication of the text and/or dissemination and use by other Christian high school and college mathematics departments.
Sponsors
- Group - Education
- Client - Messiah College Mathematical Sciences Department
Applicants
- Team advisor - Dr. Doug Phillippy, Associate Professor of Mathematics
- Team leader - Doug Phillippy
- Additional advisors - Dr. Angela Hare, Mathematical Sciences Dept. Chair
- Additional students - to be determined
Narrative
Statement of need
Since the Department of Mathematical Sciences revised its mission statement in 2003, department faculty have recognized the need for curricular materials that promote all aspects of our mission. While we have always pursued our goal of 'developing excellent problem-solvers' with course objectives and a strong curriculum, too often in the past our attempts to challenge students to live out their faith in their vocation have been limited to class devotionals and individual relationships with students. While these methods of mentoring students are significant, they are difficult to measure and assess (therefore difficult to improve), and until recently our students have rarely been asked to articulate their faith commitments in the context of their major, in oral or written assignments that help them to process and refine their understanding. The current text The Study of Mathematics is the department's first attempt to meet this need for discipline-specific faith & learning curricula, and it has been well-received by students. In the Spring 2006 and Spring 2007 semesters, approximately forty students, in total, used the text as the primary resource in MATH 195. This course is a natural starting point for curriculum integration of this sort, since, with few exceptions, all Mathematics and Mathematics with Certification majors must take this course, and they typically do so in their first year. The department's intention is to eventually broaden this curricular integration, so that, in line with our departmental mission statement, students are challenged throughout their years in our department, to excellent work in their field and to live out their faith commitments in their vocation and in society. With this proposal, the department seeks to continue the curriculum development that has already started in MATH 195, toward the long-term goal of producing a resource that students will begin to use in their first year in the major and that professors in subsequent courses may refer to as part of an ongoing academic conversation that builds students' ability to think about and articulate their Christian commitment within their vocation.
State of the art
The Study of Mathematics appears to be a unique work in the field of Christian integration of faith and learning in the mathematical sciences. Current published works in the field include Mathematics: Is God Silent? (James Nickel, 1990) and Mathematics in a Postmodern Age (Howell & Bradley, 2001). These books are expository, primarily intended to articulate the reasoned and mature perspectives of the authors on issues of faith in the mathematical sciences, and to promote discussion related to these issues. The Study of Mathematics is a work of a different sort - meant to develop a maturing understanding of both the discipline and faith issues, with significant assigned mathematical work and discussion and writing components. It is the hope of the Mathematical Sciences Department that The Study of Mathematics, when fully developed and published, will fill a curricular need among Christian colleges and universities that have a similar departmental mission to our own.
Related experience
In Summer 2005, Doug Phillippy and Angela Hare received Collaboratory funding to complete three weeks worth of text development and to use the resulting course packet in MATH 195 the following spring. The first three chapters, whose contents are outlined below, were the result of this work.
- Chapter 1: Mathematics and Certainty (How Christian faith influences a perspective on mathematical reasoning)
- Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
- Symbolic Logic and Truth Tables
- Methods of Proof
- A Christian Perspective on Reasoning
- Certainty and the Supernatural
- Chapter 2: The Usefulness of Mathematics (How Christian faith influences what we do with mathematical insight and gifts)
- Types of Mathematical Work
- Christian Vocation and Mathematics
- Chapter 3: Mathematics and the Infinite (How the discipline of mathematics influences Christian faith)
- Intuition and Probability for an Infinite Process
- Infinite Series
- Paradoxes of the Infinite
- The Infinite Nature of God
The course packet also includes thirty three mathematical exercises and ten discussion/writing assignments.
In Summer 2005, Doug Phillippy and Angela Hare presented their work, in particular Chapter 2, at the national meeting of the Association of Christians in Mathematical Sciences, held at Huntington College. In Summer 2007, Doug participated in a panel discussion on Vocation in Mathematical Sciences at the ACMS meeting, held here at Messiah College.
Proposed work
The completion of a second edition of the text The Study of Mathematics. The table of contents of this revised and expanded edition will be (approximately) the following, with significant changes in bold type.
- Text cover. Cover to be designed by Marketing Services, in conjunction with Dr. Hare and Dr. Phillippy, in order to highlight the nature of the text and Collaboratory connections.
- Introduction to this text
- Chapter 1: Mathematics and Certainty (How Christian faith influences a perspective on mathematical reasoning)
- Inductive and Deductive Reasoning
- Symbolic Logic and Truth Tables
- Methods of Proof
- A Christian Perspective on Reasoning
- Certainty and the Supernatural
- The Nature of Mathematics
- Mathematics and Culture
- Chapter 2: The Usefulness of Mathematics (How Christian faith influences what we do with mathematical insight and gifts)
- Types of Mathematical Work
- Christian Vocation and Mathematics
- Mathematical Work in Society
- Get started now: Mathematical work within the Collaboratory at Messiah College (a collection of essays by dept. students and faculty currently involved in Collaboratory projects.)
- Chapter 3: Mathematics and the Infinite (How the discipline of mathematics influences Christian faith)
- Intuition and Probability for an Infinite Process
- Limits
- Infinite Series
- Paradoxes of the Infinite
- Set theory and types of infinity
- The infinite in probability and statistics
- The Infinite Nature of God
- Mathematical study sharpening Christian faith
- Concluding thoughts
- Note: The project discussed in this proposal is part of a larger work, over perhaps a decade, in which the material in this text is expanded to include, on a sliding scale, challenging material suitable for first year through senior students, as well as the perspectives and written essays of students, faculty, and alumni, particularly on the topic of Christian calling and service. In the project that is currently proposed, Dr. Phillippy will be thinking about and developing a suitable framework for this broader text.
Partnerships
Doug Phillippy seeks to continue this work at the request of the Mathematical Sciences Department and also as a result of continuing interest as expressed by ACMS members. In addition, the department recently received a request from the Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy for assistance in the area of biblical integration.
Mission fit
A significant aspect of the mission of the Collaboratory is developing students' abilities and vocational vision for lifelong service and leadership. This project certainly fulfills this mission component and does this in a way that is directly tied to the curriculum of a course in the mathematics major.
Summary
Goals
- The second edition of this textbook will include the following modifications and/or additions to the first edition:
- Editorial and content changes, based on instructor and student-suggested improvements after two years' use in MATH 195.
- The addition of introductory and concluding essays to the text.
- To broaden the discussion in Chapter 1 (The Certainty of Mathematics) to include discussions on the nature of mathematics and the role of cultures in the development of mathematics.
- To include in Chapter 2 (The Usefulness of Mathematics) a section on mathematics and society - specifically the usefulness of mathematics in society. This section will introduce students to topics not typically found in an undergraduate mathematics curriculum, such as fair division and voting methods.
- To include, also in Chapter 2, essays written by several of the department's participants in Collaboratory work (both students and faculty)
- To include in Chapter 2 a discussion of mathematical ability as a gift and the Christian stewardship responsibility that accompanies mathematical skills. In this section, students will be asked to articulate in writing their personal understanding of Christian calling within the field of mathematical sciences.
- To expand the current discussion of mathematics and the infinite in Chapter 3.
- To include additional topics in Chapter 3, from (some of) the areas of calculus, differential equations, probability and statistics, set theory, modeling, and analysis.
- To broaden the focus of Chapter 3 to include a discussion of how the study of mathematics can inform and strengthen a Christian's faith.
- To present the revised text and associated paper at the Summer 2009 meeting of the Association of Christians in Mathematical Sciences. The paper will be submitted for publication in that organization's online journal.
Specifications
- See goals
Deliverables
- A revised and expanded text The Study of Mathematics for MATH 195 in Spring 2009, as described in the Goals section. This will be the primary text for the course, as well as a supplement in other courses within the mathematics major.
- A presentation at the Summer 2009 meeting of the Association of Christians in Mathematical Sciences (ACMS)
- A paper, submitted to the peer-reviewed online journal of the ACMS (submission in Summer 2009)
Activity time line
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Resources
Personnel and facilities
No additional personnel and facilities are required.
Budget
- Professional stipend: $6000 (based on a load buyout of $1500/credit multiplied by 4 credits. During the 2008-09 academic year, Doug will not teach overload credits and in particular will not teach a J-term course, reserving this time for intensive writing and curriculum development. He will complete 1-2 credits worth of work on this project in Summer 2008 and 2-3 credits in January 2009.)
- Focus Group lunch: ~$100
- Production costs ~$200 ($5 per copy of the course packet. Typically, this has been paid for by students, through the bookstore. Work submission deadlines prevent us from distributing this in the bookstore in Spring 2009 if it is revised in January.)
- ACMS conference attendance: ~$250
Total expenses: $6550
- $100 Focus Group lunch provided by Dean's budget
- $6000 Professional stipend requested from Keck funds
- $200 Production costs provided by Department budget
- $250 Conference attendance provided through internal professional development funds
Total funds: $6550
- Payback clause: If the MATH 195 text developed in this project is professionally published and is eventually revenue-producing through sales, the resulting royalties will be channeled into the Education Group, for future project use, up to the amount of $6000.
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Approved on 2008 02-04 |
| Leaders Committee: 2008 01-04 | |
| Directors Committee: 2008 01-15 | |
| Executive Committee: 2008 02-04 |
