Proposal

Narrative

Between 2009 and 2014, the Technology Fee Committee funded the mathematics department to create instruction computer labs (SE 271, SE 330/340/350, and SE 314) to improve student achievement in lower-division mathematics and statistics courses. Over the years, these rooms have been used by students across campus, and in 2019 room upgrades with projection systems and instructor station upgrades have been completed in SE 271, 314 and 330/340/350. These rooms see an excess of 3,300 students per term, and with such a high usage rate, the student computer stations are now in need of upgrades. Computers in SE 330/340/350 were upgraded in 2019 and computers in SE 271 was updated in May 2022. Computers in SE 314 were last upgraded in 2017, and is urgently in need of an update. SE 314 is the main room for the Methods of Calculus-Life Sciences (MAC 2233) courses, as well as courses in Calculus 3 (MAC 2313), College Algebra for STEM majors (MAC 1105C), Math of Data Science (MAP 2190), Intro to Crypto & Its Applications (MAD 2470), Matrix Theory (MAS 2103), Actuarial Mathematics (MAP 4172), Probability and Statistics for Engineers (STA 4032), Applied Statistics 1 STA 4234, Intro to Computational Math (MAD 2502), and Intro to Biostatistics (STA 3173). It is used by 1,010 students and 20 faculty members this term. It will be used for some traditional lecture time, hybrid lecture-lab time, and as a place for integrating computers into the lecture material.

Facilities

N/A

Hardware Requirements

OptiPlex 7400 All-in-One, 12 Gen Intel® Core™ i7-12700 (25 MB cache, 12 cores, 20 threads, 2.10 GHz to 4.90 GHz Turbo, 65 W), 32 GB, 1 TB, M.2 2280, PCIe NVMe, SSD, Class 40. Dell 75 4K Interactive Touch Monitor - D7523QT

Software Requirements

N/A

Personnel Costs

N/A

Other Costs

N/A

Timeline

We want to proceed so that the lab is available for summer or fall semester of 2023.

Sustainability

The Department of Mathematical Sciences would continue to fund the instructors for the courses and any graduate or undergraduate teaching assistants that facilitate learning in these spaces.

Resource Matching

Graduate teaching assistants and undergraduate assistants from the Department of Mathematical Sciences will continue to provide the teaching assistance in the labs.

Implementing Organization

The IT staff from the College of Science will assist with the installation and implementation of the hardware and software. The Department of Mathematical Sciences will support all personnel and overall maintenance of the computer labs.