Introducing colleagues to SIMIODE

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Introducing colleagues to SIMIODE

Entry #38: 17 Jan 2016; 2:25 pm; 0 comments

SIMIODE offered an Exhibit Booth and an Open House at the Joint Mathematics Meetings in Seattle, Washington USA, 6-10 January 2016. We met with many, many colleagues and shared news and nature of SIMIODE with them. Some 200 faculty and students signed up for SIMIODE and are now on the web community, some in our Teachers Group and some in our Students group as appropriate.

We gave away lots of SIMIODE pen, light, stylus devices and many folks won a SIMIODE T-shirt in our many drawings. Folks attending our Open House answered our SIMIODE site search trivia questions and won a T-shirt while others discussed issues surrounding teaching differential equations in a modeling-first approach. We will report on these when we return home in early February. Currently we are on the road and will be visiting colleagues, friends, and sights, as well as giving a talk on SIMIODE at Oregon Klamath Falls OR USA.

We were pleased to inform folks about our SIMIODE community who had not heard of SIMIODE or who had heard, but only faintly so, about our work. Almost all were excited about what we offered and the approach we espoused and wanted to know more about our work. It was rewarding to meet face-to-face with new friends in teaching differential equation using modeling and applications. Many had been doing so in their own teaching and just wanted to contact others of like mind and some were genuinely interested in getting started in this approach.

It is our hope that by joining the SIMIODE community colleagues will see new ideas and materials, try using the modeling scenarios we offer, and share and submit their own modeling efforts in support of teaching differential equations. We welcome all and look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.

colleague

About the author

Brian Winkel

Brian Winkel earned his degrees in mathematics (BS, MS, PhD) in 1964, 1967, and 1971, respectively, with his PhD from Indiana University in Noetherian Ring Theory. While teaching in his first position (liberal arts college Albion College, Albion MI USA) he developed an interest in applications of mathematics to biology and while teaching in an engineering setting (Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute IN USA, United States Air Force Academy, USAFA CO USA, and United States Military Academy, West Point NY USA) he developed a strong interest in engineering applications of mathematics. With sabbatical experiences at Michigan Technological University, Houghton MI USA and Brown University, Providence RI USA he strengthened his commitment to teaching mathematics using applications to introduce and drive the learning process.

Along the way he founded and edited three journals Cryptologia (1977 - Present), Collegiate Microcomputer (1982-1993), and PRIMUS - Problems, Resources, and Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies (1990 - Present).

Upon retirement from the United States Military Academy in spring 2011 he committed time, energy, and resources, and together with many very talented colleagues who possessed the same vision of teaching modeling first differential equations he founded SIMIODE.

Currently, Brian is a Co-PI of a National Science Foundation DUE-IUSE grant in support of SIMIODE Community of Practice, web space, workshops, and resource development and promotion.

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