Student Corner

 

 

Thanks to All Students Who Applied for InMATYC Scholarship!

The Indiana Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges (InMATYC) Scholarship will be awarded to an Ivy Tech Community College or Vincennes University student (or at most to two students) who meets the following requirements:

  1. Must be a Freshman or Sophomore at Ivy Tech CC or Vincennes University in the academic year that the application is submitted.
  2. Must be (or must have been) enrolled in at least 6 credits at Ivy Tech or VU in the academic year that the scholarship application is submitted.
  3. Must have completed, with a grade of B or better, at least one math course (for which Intermediate Algebra is a prerequisite).
  4. Must have an overall GPA of at least 3.20 on a 4.00-point scale.
The scholarship application materials must include the following:
  1. At least 1 letter of recommendation from a math instructor.
  2. At least one additional letter of recommendation from an instructor at Ivy Tech or VU.
  3. An unofficial copy of the student's transcript.
  4. A brief statement (200-word maximum) that includes the student's professional goals (required) and obstacles that the student is overcoming to achieve his/her goals (optional).

Download Scholarship Form

Applications Deadline has Passed - Stay tuned for 2020 opportunity!

Problem of the Month

HQ is a popular app which hosts daily trivia and gives away money. The format of the quiz has changed over the years, but basically you get a question with three possible answers and 10 seconds to answer. The current format includes 20 questions and a recent quiz boasted a $215,000 jackpot. What are the chances of guessing right 20 times in a row? Theoretically, if you had enough people coordinating their guessing, you could ensure a victory, by splitting everyone equally between the three options. How many people would be necessary for a 3 question quiz? 10 question quiz? 20 question quiz?

Teaching Note: The second question models a problem strategy called "Simpler/Similar". The real question is how many people would be necessary for the 20 question quiz, but by considering an easier similar problem you get traction on the more complicated problem. Remember that for your next math test!

Graph of the Month

bar chart of % difference in pay for gender

The gender pay gap is a term that describes the difference in pay received by men and women. You can see from this graph that the issue is not unique to the United States. Although the question of why there is still a gender pay gap is not settled (try a google search for "why is there a gender pay gap" to see various perspectives on the question) the USWMNT's (US Women's National Team) case against US Soccer Federation presents an interesting test case in gender pay equity. The suit was filed in US District Court earlier this year. Click here for more information about the lawsuit