The goal of this talk is to answer these questions and to break down common student misconceptions regarding career possibilities for those who study mathematics. Examples discussed include specific mathematics-related careers, particular companies that hire mathematics majors, and names of individuals ranging from doctors to actuaries to economists to lawyers who majored in mathematics while in college. A list of Internet resources will also be provided. We will address these questions as well as introduce students to the nature of mathematical research. Example research problems from chaos theory and the study of polynomial extrema will be discussed.
Students work in pairs or small groups to experiment and make conjectures.
Each exploration is followed by full class discussion to connect and consolidate ideas about change and give students practice in communicating and justifying their conjectures. In addition, students get direct experience with concepts of measurement. Solutions to many of these problems are achieved through mathematics. We will discuss how to detect and correct errors in digital messages, how to send secure messages, and ways to minimize the information necessary to transmit images. Wavelets form one tool that is being used in many different areas.