Reception/discussion

The evening reception organized by Clyde Greeno was more in the nature of a group discussion. The session began at 7:00 p.m. Those attending at least part of the session were Jason Aubrey, Kirby Baker, Heidi Burgel, Clyde Greeno, J. Alfredo Jimenez, Thomas Leathram, Douglas Meade, Michael May, Michael Scott, David Smith, Philip Yasskin, and Bruce Yoshiwara.

Jason Aubrey and Michael Scott, co-Vice Chairs for Programs, explained that they were looking into what additional activities might be feasible at the summer MAA MathFest and the winter Joint Mathematics Meetings in Washington, D.C. Some deadlines are already past. It is still possible to propose a panel for either meeting, and we have considerable flexibility in scheduling activities as part of a business meeting.

There was a discussion of whether the Charter of this SIGMAA might be changed to provide for longer terms for officers than the present one year, with a view to enhancing continuity. In particular, the deadlines for program submissions require a longer lead time than one year.

David Smith has agreed to edit the Newsletter, with the understanding that others will submit the content. Members should be thinking of what kinds of submissions would be of interest to the membership. Clyde Greeno proposed having a Newsletter subcommittee.

Clyde Greeno also urges the members to assist in identifying speakers and authors who should be invited to join the SIGMAA (in which case they must be MAA members) or who could be invited as speakers at meetings.

It was proposed that the SIGMAA should have representatives in each of the geographical sections to recruit more members.

There was much discussion of web courseware and the problems of nonstandardization. Several of those present have had extensive experience with the use of relevant software, which they described. There was also a discussion of examples of remote teaching using the Web. The calculus program at the University of Illinois is a successful example of long standing. It depends on having a large number of undergraduates on campus who are paid to answer questions of the remote students.

Those present were divided on how to abbreviate the name of this SIGMAA in a way that still connotes its mission of using the Web for undergraduate instruction. The official title is "SIGMAA on Mathematics Instruction Using the Web. The traditional short name has been "Web SIGMAA", which is at least simple and pronounceable but omits mention of instruction. More recent alternatives have been "MIU Web SIGMAA" or "MIUW SIGMAA", abbreviations that are most understandable by people who already know the full name. (Abbreviations of other SIGMAAs, such as "HOM SIGMAA" for History of Mathematics, have the same disability.)

It was proposed that discussion meetings such as this one should regularly be held at the winter Joint Mathematics Meetings and the summer MathFests, with a report provided to the general membership.

The discussion concluded at 9:30 p.m.

Submitted by Kirby A. Baker, Secretary/Treasurer