On Tuesday, April 15, 2025, Doane University held the Symposium in Undergraduate Mathematics.
At 10 a.m., students and staff from the Math department gathered to meet and listen to all the new research students were able to find and dig deeper into their inquiries as a presentation for others to see.
Each student worked with a peer professor for the entire semester, using data analytics to solve that one question roaming around their head.
Seven students from Doane and one student from the College of Saint Mary stepped up and presented their findings to all who attended.
Starting with Cade Wiseman and with his peer professor’s help, J.L. Vertin, Cade talked about the Productive Struggle in the Math Classroom.
This presentation highlights the role of productive struggle in the classroom, emphasizing its value for developing critical thinking and problem-solving skills.
Libbie Clevette, along Dr. Kris Williams’ guidance, spoke about Optimizing Quarto Gameplay Using Q-Learning.
Through simulations conducted in Python, the Q-agent autonomously developed optimal gameplay tactics, highlighting the strategic importance of first-move advantage and the influence of board-size on decision-making.
Caleb Habrik, along with his professor’s aide, Peggy Hart, presented on Seven-Spot Shooting Drill Exploratory Data Analysis.
Data from the drills and games have been collected on men’s basketball players over the past four seasons.
A variety of analytic methods are used to explore the important variables related to drill numbers, three-point field goal percentages, three-pointers made, and three-pointers attempted.
Next, Abby Ulrich, with Dr. Barbara Jennings-Herzog’s guidance, talks about A Tale of Two Integrale: Riemann meets Lebesgue.
The study also contrasts the Riemann and Lebesgue integrals, highlighting differences in approach and applicability.
By illustrating examples where the Lebesgue integral succeeds while the Riemann integral fails, this work underscores the significance of measure-theoretic integration in modern mathematical analysis.
Sam Schmitz, with Dr. Jerome Roehm’s input, presented on NFL Sports Betting Analysis.
This research highlights the intuition and development of a single variable logistic regression model and PageRank, while providing visualizations to further develop an understanding of logistic regression and its performance in profitability over time.
After a delicious lunch where students and staff shared, Ritzy Dominguez from the College of Saint Mary and under Dr. Jing Chang’s scope, spoke about Public Insights 5 Years After Covid-19.
Statistical analysis is conducted to explore the relationship between demographics and public perceptions of COVID-19, with findings compared to national trends reported by Pew Research.
Additionally, Molly Staples, with Dr. Jerome Roehm’s guidance, talked about Economic Return on Investment in Higher Education.
They investigated the demographic makeup of graduates, geographic locations, academic majors, time-value of money and how the value of higher education has changed over time.
Lastly, but not least, Lindsey Udell, with Professor Peggy Hart’s aid, presented on Problem-Solving Student Attitudes Survey Analysis.
Utilizing five years of data, this project focuses on how students feel about their comfort, confidence, excitement, processing, persistence, reasoning and application of mathematics to the outside world.
And with that, Doane’s Symposium in Undergraduate Mathematics came to an end.
