MathPath

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MathPath is a mathematics enrichment summer program for students ages 11–14 (middle school age in the US). It is four weeks long, and moves to a different location each year. MathPath is visited by world-renowned mathematicians such as John H. Conway and Francis Su and is the sister camp of Mathcamp.

History

MathPath was founded in 2002 by George Rubin Thomas, who had previously founded Mathcamp. His goal was to inspire and advance the most mathematically gifted middle school age students, through a summer camp.

Story of MathPath


Academic out-of-school-programs for gifted students rising in grades 7 and 8 have existed for many years. They identified the students and placed them in suitable summer programs. Johns Hopkins University and Duke University have been leaders in the endeavor. Typically they chose students who were in the top 0.5%, 2% and the like from nationally recognized achievement tests.

George Rubin Thomas, a former college professor and the Executive Director of Mathcamp, one of the leading summer programs for mathematically talented high school students, saw the need for an intense program similar to Mathcamp but designed for students rising in grades 6 through 8. He recognized that, as in music, training suited to the very gifted should be provided at an early age. He saw that such training must go beyond the narrow focus at standard programs for the gifted and talented, and have a balanced approach to the several aspects of mathematical development of the high IQ young student, more balance than can be achieved at problem-solving-focus workshops in the various countries. He first proposed the idea to two fellow mathematicians with whom he ran Mathcamp. They said they did not have the time to be involved in yet another camp and that Thomas could start one if he liked. Starting a large national summer program is financially risky. Thomas, not wanting to jeopardise Mathcamp, struck out on his own. He discussed the idea with many mathematicians, and educators of gifted students. Among those were John Conway of Princeton University and Titu Andreescu, Executive Director of the American Mathematics Competitions. The encouragement he received prompted him to consult the parents of the very gifted. Their strong endorsement pushed the launch of this summer workshop. The name Mathpath was suggested by Professor John Conway. From the first camp in 2002, Conway has taught at the program. The quality of the program was helped immensely by professors Paul Zeitz and Stephen Maurer who joined the program in the following year.

The program is dedicated to nurturing emerging mathematical talent by providing a month-long summer gathering place - a place that has the highest residential standards, instructional programs suited to the extremely gifted, and developmental opportunities, both academic and social.

It was found that a suitable location for a program for the highly gifted young students would benefit from proximity to nature as well as opportunities for weekend trips. Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota, was selected as a suitable campus for the first camp.

The thrust of the program is four-fold: Teach how to write in mathematics, inculcate the importance of proof, familiarize the heuristics of problem solving, and provide a unified view of mathematics through its historical development. Some of the world's top experts who train the brightest young students would teach at Mathpath.

MathPath is now a non-profit organization run by a team of mathematicians and high school and middle school teachers of students gifted in mathematics. Thus, as happened to its sibling program Mathcamp, Mathpath too passed on to the mathematics community.

More information

Subjects

At MathPath, students learn about many math topics that are rarely taught in American schools, such as non-Euclidean geometry, advanced Euclidean geometry, number theory, combinatorics, induction, spherical trigonometry, mathematical origami, and the mathematics of card shuffling. They also learn some history of math and work on mathematical writing. Topics vary somewhat each year, depending on instructor interest. As well, students have the opportunity to prepare for contests such as MATHCOUNTS, AMC, or AIME.

Although much of the day is spent learning mathematics, there is deliberately more free time than at high school math camps. Also, students regularly go on weekend day trips and visit the surrounding area's attractions.

Staff

Regular Staff

Regular staff are those who come almost every year. Usually they come for 2–4 weeks, but a few come for only one week. Most of the regular staff members have an in-camp nickname.

  • Silva Chang (Ms C), University of Colorado at Boulder. As director of the Colorado Math Circle, coach of the Colorado ARML Team, and five-time coach of the Colorado MATHCOUNTS Team, Ms. Chang has mentored and taught MOSP attendees, USAMO qualifiers, and state MATHCOUNTS champions. At MathPath, Ms. Chang has taught two very popular courses, mathematical origami and Mathematica.
  • Thomas Drucker (Coach D) is a professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin and the editor of Perspectives of the History of Mathematical Logic. He is an expert on the history of mathematics from the 17th century to modern times.
  • Alan Q. Lippert (Mr. L) is a retired mathematics teacher and MATHCOUNTS coach. He was the Academic Director of MathPath in 2003–2005. He leads the MATHCOUNTS and AMC8 classes and does the Problem of the Day.
  • Stephen B. Maurer (Mr. M) is a Professor of Mathematics at Swarthmore College, PA and the Academic Director of MathPath. He is former Chair of the AMC and an expert on mathematical writing. At MathPath he teaches courses on mathematical induction, combinatorics, "Linear Set Geometry", and sometimes AMC competitions. He also runs sessions where student solutions to the Qualifying Test are used anonymously to discuss mathematical writing. But watch out! Mr. M sometimes screws up and forgets to remove the name.
  • Jonathan Rogness, University of Minnesota, is well known for his beautiful mathematical visualizations, including an award-winning video, Möbius Transformations Revealed, which went viral online and has been viewed by nearly two million people. At MathPath he has taught cryptology and the Shape of Space.
  • Francis Su (Prof Su) is a professor of mathematics at Harvey Mudd College, Claremont, CA. He teaches about problems relating to probability, shuffling (card tricks!) and social sciences (such as fair division). He typically comes for the first or last week.
  • Crispin Sumner (Kip) is the Camp Director and is in charge of student life and activities, as well as some years being camp champion in doubles pickleball and doubles pool. He also is packing a lot of legal lingo, and is outsmarted by only one or two children, namely in 2011 - 2012.
  • George Thomas (Dr. T), Executive Director, is the founder of the camp, as well as of the high school math program, Mathcamp. He teaches courses in Analytic Geometry, Hyperbolic Geometry, and Non-Euclidean Geometry.
  • Glen Van Brummelen (Glen) is an expert in the history of Greek and other early mathematics. In 2009 he published a book on the history of trigonometry, and he is working on the first book on spherical trigonometry in over 100 years.
  • John Howe (John) is an event organizer and selects the MathPathers for the breakout sessions.

Visiting Staff

Visiting staff are participants for one year or occasional years. Usually they attend for one week, or for a day or two to give a few lectures. Often they are faculty at the host institution or nearby institutions. A sampling of guest staff from recent years:

  • Gene Abrams is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs CO. His research interests include Leavitt path algebras and noncommutative rings.
  • Jennifer Beineke is an Associate Professor of Mathematics, Western New England College, Springfield, MA is a specialist in analytic number theory.
  • Andrew Beveridge is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Macalester College, St Paul MN. He studies random walks on graphs as well as structures generated via random processes. He enjoys thinking about problems inspired by massive real world networks, such as the internet.
  • Owen Byer, Professor of Mathematics, Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg VA, is an expert in discrete math and geometry, co-authoring the book Methods for Euclidean Geometry. At MathPath he has taught breakouts in Affine Geometry and Probability.
  • Robin Hartshorne is an Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at UC Berkeley and author of Projective Geometry (1967), Algebraic Geometry (1977), and Geometry: Euclid and Beyond (2000).
  • Isil Nal, Harmony School of Excellence, Houston TX, and coach of the 2011 Texas State MATHCOUNTS team that placed 3rd at nationals. At the Harmony School Ms Nal has taught National MATHCOUNTS participants, USA(J)MO qualifiers and MOSP attendees. At MathPath she teachers AMC12, AIME and USAMO courses.
  • Amelia Taylor is an Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Colorado College, Colorado Springs CO. She lectures on combinatorics, group theory, and the game Set
  • John Watkins, Professor Emeritus of Mathematics, Colorado College. A graph theorist who has also worked on puzzles. He teachers courses at MathPath that use board puzzles, Sudoku and KenKen to teach mathematics, for instance, using material from his book Across the Board: The Mathematics of Chessboard Problems.
  • Paul Zeitz is a Professor of Mathematics at the University of San Francisco. He is the author of The Art and Craft of Problem Solving. At MathPath he has taught such courses as problem solving, combinatorics, and solving the Rubik's Cube.

For more information see The MathPath Faculty Webpage. A new version is put up a few months before each summer's program.

Activities

Typical weekday schedule

  • 6:00am Optional activities for early risers: math, jogging, table tennis, etc.
  • 7:30 Last wake-up call
  • 8:00 Breakfast[1]
  • 8:45 Plenary Lecture: The History of Mathematics
  • 9:45–11:00 Morning Breakout Session
  • 11:00–12:00 Plenary Lecture: Guest Speaker
  • 12:00 Announcements
  • 12:30 Lunch
  • 1:00–2:45 Free Time
  • 3:00 Mini-Plenary Lecture: Mathematical Writing
  • 3:30–5:00 Afternoon Breakout Session
  • 5:00 Wrap-up, Announcements, Problem of the Day
  • 6:00 Dinner
  • 6:30 Evening Activities (digestion/soccer, basketball, etc.)
  • 8:30 Students back in the dorm; math conferencing time
  • 9:15 Counselor Meetings
  • 9:45 Quiet time, preparing for bed/ showers
  • 10:00 Bedtime! (2013)
  • 10:15 Bedtime! (2012 and prior)


NOTE: Every year's schedule varies slightly (around 15 minutes). Look on the MathPath website (www.mathpath.org) for the exact schedule for the year.

On Saturday, the afternoon activities are a little different.

  • 2:30 Show and tell and voting for breakouts
  • 3:30 Fun math activity (such as a math relay race, MathCounts Countdown, QuizBowl, etc.)

On weekends, students usually go on a day trip to the surrounding attractions or participate in other activities, such as biking, white water rafting, rock climbing, or hiking. Chess, ping pong, pool, Rubik's Cube, Set and Magic: The gathering tournaments are played and organized during the students' free time.

Admissions

MathPath is selective. The primary criterion for admission is the applicant's work on the yearly Qualifying Test. One begins the application process by filling out an online information form. An academic and nonacademic reference are also required. Admission is done on a rolling basis. For details, see How to Apply. Also available: financial aid, merit scholarships for high scores on various competitions, and fee reductions for paying early.

Locations

References

  1. ↑ "A MathPath Day". MathPath. 

External links

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