With most colleges around the country teaching online for the remainder of the year, faculty have quickly had to master new technologies and teaching methods to adapt their curricula to the web.

But UConn math professor Álvaro Lozano-Robledo is going the extra mile. In addition to the Applied Linear Algebra course he’s teaching this semester, Professor Lozano-Robledo has launched a new series of videos on YouTube aimed at introducing algebra to 3rd and 4th graders. The new series, entitled “Algebra for Kids”, features fun, colorful animations to explain key concepts like multiplication, grouping, variables, and equations.

“I have been trying to give my kids some extra math activities and material during the school-from-home era, so I started teaching my daughter some algebra,” explains Lozano-Robledo about how he got the idea. He adds, “It gives us something to do, and I imagine many other parents are looking for something like this for their kids to do.”

The first two videos are already racking up views. More are soon to follow, according to Lozano-Robledo.

Professors Luke Rogers and Alexander Teplyaev were recently informed that the National Science Foundation has renewed their Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) site grant for an additional three years. The site brings nine students from across the country to participate in a 10 week research program each summer. Projects are run by Luke and Sasha, and by participating faculty Fabrice Baudoin, Masha Gordina and Oleksii Mostovyi. This summer research program has been running since 2007, initially with funding from individual professor’s grants, and since 2013 as a full REU site.

During the program, students work closely with their faculty supervisor and with graduate student mentors on real research problems. They are introduced to a new area, investigate fundamental examples (sometimes by hand and sometimes numerically), try to solve a specific problem, and then present their work in talks and with posters. In many cases they write and publish papers in research journals. Recent projects have been in fractal analysis, mathematical finance, and stochastics. More details about the students’ work can be found at the REU website.

Students participate in past REU programs. (Click to enlarge.)

Vladimir Pozdnyakov, Professor of Mathematics and Statistics, and the Director of Applied Financial Mathematics Program, is a co-recipient of the 2020 Chauvenet Prize of the Mathematical Association of America.

From the MAA website:

The Chauvenet Prize, consisting of a prize of $1,000 and a certificate, is awarded at the Annual January Meeting of the Association to the author of an outstanding expository article on a mathematical topic. First awarded in 1925, the Prize is named for William Chauvenet, a professor of mathematics at the United States Naval Academy. It was established through a gift in 1925 from J.L. Coolidge, then MAA President. Winners of the Chauvenet Prize are among the most distinguished of mathematical expositors.

Professor Pozdnyakov shares the prize with J. Michael Steele, for their joint article, “Buses, Bullies, and Bijections” in Mathematics Magazine.

For more information about the Chauvenet Prize, including a list of prior recipients, visit the MAA website.