{"81941":{"#nid":"81941","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Tech Uses Math to Open Doors for Prospective Students","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EMath is a four-letter word. Intimidated by its perceived complexity or convinced that the subject has no relevance outside the classroom, many students shun math for more literary pursuits. But the universal language is everywhere. The world economy is built on math. From the computing revolution, to advances in medicine and space exploration, to shopping over the Internet, nearly all the major advancements of this and the past century have their foundations in math. Yet despite the subject\u0027s pervasiveness, many students and parents continue to fear math. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech is working to change that perception through educational outreach programs and a new math competition. This Saturday, the school is holding its first high school mathematics competition in nearly 50 years. The goal is to attract both students who are experienced in mathematics competitions as well as untapped talent.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Math opens doors to almost every discipline,\u0022 said Georgia Tech Math Professor Yang Wang. \u0022It teaches students analytical abilities that are valued in a number of non-math professions.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETech alumna Mary Beth Young, who received a Master\u0027s degree in math, said that studying math has helped her tremendously in her law practice and during her stint as a law clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Math accustoms you to rigorous thinking and following through the implications of an argument. It helps you identify logical problems, which is useful in law and many other disciplines,\u0022 she said.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ETech is using Saturday\u0027s competition as a recruiting event with activities for both students and parents. Approximately 250 high school students from Georgia and neighboring states are expected to turn out for the competition that will consist of two hour-long tests followed by fun activities centered around math. The day begins at 7:45 a.m. in the Instructional Center at 759 Ferst Drive on the Tech campus. While the students are busy with the exams, parents and teachers will hear talks from Tech\u0027s admissions counselors and mathematics professors. Students, parents and teachers will also tour campus during the afternoon. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022There\u0027s a lot of talent that can be cultivated,\u0022 said Wang. \u0022The competition is one way we\u0027re hoping to do that.\u0022 \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EGraduate students such as Gail Rosen are another way. Rosen is a fellow in Georgia Tech\u0027s Student and Teacher Enhancement Partnership program (STEP). She spends several days a week teaching trigonometry, pre-calculus and physics at Tri-Cities High School, a visual and performing arts magnet school in Fulton County.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0022A lot of students will say they don\u0027t like math, but I think they don\u0027t realize how important it is,\u0022 said Rosen. \u0022Even the honors students don\u0027t all understand why they need to know math.\u0022\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003ERosen said she\u0027s been teaching her students how math comes up in everyday life from simple things such as calculating credit card interest to creating music, a topic that hits home at the magnet school. She\u0027s bringing eight students from Tri-Cities to the competition.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EMusic is math you can hear. Rosen demonstrated how computer programs use sine waves to make sounds. \u0022I have the students add two sine waves and they make a dial tone and then I have them add more, and they see they can make other sounds,\u0022 she said. The demonstrations, said Rosen, gave the musically inclined a new respect for math.\n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EA new respect is needed. According to an assessment done by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) in 2000, Georgia still lags below the national average in math performance in grades four and eight. And Georgia had the lowest average math SAT score of any state in the country last year. To boost performance, the Georgia Department of Education is proposing the adoption of a more challenging math curriculum, modeled after Japan\u0027s curriculum. \n\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003Cp\u003EBut if students are to increase their interest and skill in math, Georgia\u0027s universities will have to do their part. In addition to the STEP program, Tech also sends approximately 100 students to tutor fourth-graders in the subject. Led by the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics and Computing (CEISMC) and the Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL), Tech is investigating other ways to reach out to Georgia\u0027s students in math so that when it\u0027s time for them to apply to college, they\u0027ll have what it takes to become a Ramblin\u0027 Wreck from Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"For some, math is a four-letter word. Georgia Tech is working to change that perception through educational outreach programs and a new math competition.","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":"","uid":"27304","created_gmt":"2004-03-18 01:00:00","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:01:58","author":"Matthew Nagel","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2004-03-18T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2004-03-18T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"81951":{"id":"81951","type":"image","title":"Music is math you can hear.","body":null,"created":"1449178087","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 21:28:07","changed":"1475894698","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:44:58"}},"media_ids":["81951"],"groups":[{"id":"1214","name":"News Room"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EGeorgia Tech Media Relations\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELaura Diamond\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:laura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Elaura.diamond@comm.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-894-6016\u003Cbr \/\u003EJason Maderer\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:maderer@gatech.edu\u0022\u003Emaderer@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E404-660-2926\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["david.terraso@comm.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}