Math 497 Senior Projects
Spring 2026

Syllabus

Key Dates

• Senior oral exam- Saturday, Jan 24 at 9AM
• Power and Privilege Symposia are on Thursday, Feb 19 (no classes that day)
• Undergrad Research Conference is on Tuesday, Apr 14 (no classes that day)
• The 9th annual PiMUC conference is on Saturday, May 2 (everyone will give their oral presentations that day).

Links by Day

• Week 1 (Jan 20-22)
  • Tuesday
    Today we'll review the syllabus and schedule. We'll do a short exercise on what makes a good paper. Then we'll discuss LaTeX and Beamer, and take a look at Overleaf. Finally, we'll discuss the homework.
    • Overheads
    • Latex Handout
    • Oral Exam Info
    • Homework for Thursday
  • Thursday: Our first set of oral presentations.
• Week 2 (Jan 27-29)
  • Tuesday: Work Pipeline for our Projects and Peer Review
    • Pipeline Discussion
      • Deadlines for the Project
      • Math Project Handout
      • Stats Project Handout
    • Peer Review Workshop
      • How does Peer Review work?
      • What should an author do after peer review?
    • HOMEWORK for Thursday: Read Krantz, 1.1-1.8
      Answer the readback by Wednesday 11:59 PM.
  • Thursday
    Today we're discussing Krantz's text on how to write mathematics, then we'll take a look at applying for a job.
    • Discussion on Krantz:
      • Handout- Examples of bad writing.
      • The Krantz Critique Sheet
    • Jobs and AI
      • Job ad (fake job generated by ChatGPT, but based on similar types of jobs)
      • Five fake resumes (generated by ChatGPT)
      • Possible rubric to rate the applications
      • Example rating by Claude AI
      • Alex's resume- Before and After
  • Homework: Remember to write in your project idea to Canvas before class on Tuesday.
• Week 3 (Feb 3-5)
  • Tues Feb 3: Class will be in the library (with librarian Amy Blau)
  • Thur Feb 5:
    • Reminder of course deadlines
    • More on writing: What's an "argument"?
    • Notes on the bibliography
    • Examples and Group Work
• Week 4 (Feb 10-12)
  • Tues Feb 10: We'll talk about writing, how to put together a good talk. There will be time today for writing your project and presentation.
    Interesting clip- Philosophy of Math
  • Thur Feb 12: Oral Presentations
• Week 5 (Feb 17-19)
  • Tues Feb 17: Class discussions and time for writing
    • Youtube clip- Math and AI - about 10 minutes
    • Youtube clip- Stats and AI - about 10 minutes
    • Handout for discussion
    • Homework: Work on a draft of your project- we'll start doing peer review on Tuesday. Reading homework: Look over Chapter 2 of Krantz' text- We'll discuss it as we go next week.
  • Thur Feb 19: No classes - Power and Privilege Symposia
• Week 6 (Feb 24-28) Focus on writing and peer review this week.
  • Tuesday links:
    • Summary of the reading (Ch 2, Krantz)
    • Peer Review Handout
  • Thursday: Today was our first peer review session.
• Week 7 (Mar 3-5) [End of week is mid-semester!]
  • Tuesday: Short day. We'll discuss what's due at the end of the week, and then the rest of class time is for reading and writing.
    • Rough Draft Notes- What do I need to turn in?
  • Thursday: Go to the "Career and Community Fair"
• Week 8
  • Tues, 3/10: This week we focus on peer review of the rough drafts.
  • Thur, 3/12: Discuss the schedule after break. Discuss citations and use of AI.
    • Slides on Citations and AI
    • Ethics Quiz
    • AI Ethics from Taylor & Francis
• Spring Break
• Week 9 (3/31-4/2)
  • Deadlines for Math 497
  • Tues: Individual meetings
  • Thur: Oral presentations
• Week 10 (4/7-4/9)
  • Tues: Class cancelled today.
  • Thur: Finish oral presentations. Peer review if time- Draft is due Monday, Apr 13th.
  • Talk on Monday- you're invited!
• Week 11 (4/14-4/16)
  • Tues: Undergrad Research Conference- No classes today.
  • Thur: Class cancelled today.
• Week 12 (4/21-4/23) This week, we have our last peer review edit, and the final draft of your paper is due at the end of the week. Conference registration and oral abstracts were due this past weekend.
  • Peer review sheets
• Week 13 (4/28-4/30) Final rehearsals for the oral presentations (Conference is on Saturday). Final oral slide deck upload due on Monday following the conference. On Tuesday, we have individual meetings with me in my office, and on Thursday, class is canceled to prepare for Saturday's conference/presentation.
• Week 14 (5/5-5/7)
  • Last peer review of paper.
  • Time reserved for finishing up the project- no class, but I will be in my office if you have questions (due next week)
• Week 15: Final Project Due on Friday, May 15