Teaching
Professors in the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science understand that students have different goals. Some are interested in pure mathematics while others want to see how mathematics can be applied to other disciplines. Some are interested in serious software or hardware development, scientific computing and bioinformatics while others are want to see how computer science can be applied to managing information technology and business applications. Professors teach to all these kinds of students and the result is a classroom conversation that is challenging, stimulating and varied.
The two fields, mathematics and computer science, are well-suited to share a home in the same department because of the commitment professors have made to providing an interdisciplinary education to all mathematics and computer science students. Computer software that performs symbolic computations (Mathematica) is used in many math courses, and computer science students need a strong foundation in mathematics to be successful in their field.
Mathematics professors are especially interested in helping students understand and appreciate the importance and usefulness of mathematics in the modern world. Assignments and projects emphasize the real-life applications of math in other fields of study. For example, the faculty recently developed a new two-semester scientific calculus course (MATH 231-232) that combines the core calculus concepts with other math topics important to the natural sciences.
Math professors recognize that not all students will decide to study mathematics at the graduate level. In response, the department prepares students for a variety of career paths including education, industrial and governmental research and careers in actuarial science and economics. For students who do want to go on to graduate school, professors try to expose them to pure and applied mathematics in balanced doses so that they can make decisions about the kind of math they want to pursue in graduate school. Professors recognize that the best preparation students can have for graduate school is to participate in undergraduate research projects. Research leads to close student and faculty collaboration, which seniors cite in their annual exit interviews as the single greatest strength of the department. Faculty members are consistently willing and excited to work one-on-one with students as they wrestle with complex material.
Computer science professors balance teaching students the fundamentals of the discipline while at the same time staying on top of a rapidly changing field where the lessons could change day by day and certainly semester by semester. A number of innovative courses have sprung from this challenge including an advanced architecture course that was organized around case studies on processor design. A recent operating systems class put students in groups to install and modify the Linux operating system on Apple’s iPod music player. Students taking a recent data mining course completed final projects that ranged from predicting the calls a football coach would make to improving the prediction algorithm Netflix uses to suggest new movies to customers.
Strong computer science courses emphasize the fundamentals of computing and at the same time, incorporate hands-on work at all levels to illustrate and reinforce the principles in realistic contexts. To this end, most computer science courses contain a lab component. A lab for an introductory course might be a closed laboratory experience with highly structured exercises while a lab for a more advanced course might utilize extended seminar-style meetings or problem-solving sessions. In addition to giving students the chance to practice what they’re learning in the classroom, labs can also help faculty and students develop close working relationships that may ultimately lead to independent research opportunities.
The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science is committed to introducing innovative approaches to the general education curriculum as well as the curriculums for each major. To complete the field of study in symbolic reasoning (FSSR) requirement, most Richmond students, regardless of major, will take at least one course in the department. To that end, offerings like “Minds and Machines” have been developed that focus on the similarities and differences between human thought and computational processes. Both the introduction to scientific computing and the scientific calculus classes were developed with science majors in mind.
The faculty encourages all students to attend the department’s Colloquium Series, a series of lectures and talks by guest speakers who are outstanding in their fields.
