www.wooster.edu/Academics/Areas/mathematics www.wooster.edu/Academics/Areas/computer-science
Greetings from the chair...
Greetings! Thanks for reading our 3rd annual department newsletter. As you can see, the
2011-12 academic year was very eventful! The word for the coming year is change . As students return to campus, they will notice that the third floor atrium area has been updated to reflect our emphasis on cooperative learning. The corner that typically holds the prized slide rule will now have walls that you can write on with dry erase markers. Moveable tables and chairs will allow students to work together in different configurations.
For additional problem-solving fun, students can also write on the tables! Hopefully we will see more of our majors working and learning in this new space.
Of course, it is the people who really make the department what it is, and we have some changes to announce in this area as well. This past spring saw the
Atticus Jack ’12 (Computer Science major) marches in the I.S. parade wearing antlers, perhaps to show he has “racked” his brain?
retirement of Linda Barbu, who has been in the department for 25 years. We will miss the bright smile and the generous spirit that has graced the math center during her career at Wooster. Ronda Kirsch, who taught for us last year, will join the staff permanently as an instructor and also as the new director of the math center. Please stop by and say hello to Ronda. This spring we said goodbye to Professsor Jim
Daehn, who has taught Computer Science for the past two years. Jim is now in Missouri where his wife has a new job, so we wish them the best. Professor Samer
Khasawneh, who just completed his Ph.D. from Kent
State University, will fill in as a visiting faculty member in Computer Science this coming year, so we welcome him.
We also have two new faculty joining us in
Mathematics this year—Matt Moynihan and Bob
Wooster. Yes, you read his name correctly. We are looking forward to several years of playing up Bob’s last name whenever possible. Professor John Ramsay is beginning a three-year position as the Associate Dean for
Experiential Learning. He will continue to teach one course each semester and advise I.S. projects, but he will be spending a bit more time working to ensure that
Wooster students continue to have exciting opportunities for learning outside the classroom. The year ahea be an exciting adventure for us!
—Pam Pierce, Chairperson and Professor
PPierce@Wooster.edu
d will
Professor Pierce and Yanlong Hu ’12 (Math and
Computer Science major) at Wooster’s 142nd commencement.
Micah Caunter ’12 (2nd from left, Computer Science major) stylishly celebrates I.S. Monday wearing a teeny tiny sombrero.
CONTENTS
Class of 2012 Senior Independent Study
Faculty & Staff
Honors and Awards
Contests
Colloquia
Student Conference Presentations
Taylor Bowl
Applied Mathematics & Research
Experience

Rockville MD
This Independent Study is a historical analysis of a trend of twentieth century ideologies, starting with Nicolas Bourbaki, that sought to apply strict methods of organization founded in the logic of Set Theory. I first study the history and the works of Nicolas Bourbaki before drawing connections to other topics. Nicolas Bourbaki is a pseudonym for a group of French mathematicians who tried to reorganize the elements of mathematics in the disorder of the early twentieth century. When mathematicians and policy makers in America and abroad felt that mathematics education was inadequate, many turned to Bourbaki’s methods. To better understand how methods have evolved, I examine several expositions of Set Theory.
Bourbaki’s efforts influenced not only mathematicians and scientists, but also academics working in the humanities. French literary group Ouvroir de
Littérature Potentielle (OuLiPo) worked with elements of writing to explore potential modes of creating literature. By describing the various means of employing elements in separate cases, I consider different methods to understand how certain constraints may be better suited for distinctive goals.
Major : Math & French
Advisors: Pam Pierce (Math) and
Carolyn Durham (French)
(Manchester Jamaica)
Major : Math & Biochemistry/
Molecular Biology
Advisors: Drew Pasteur (Math) and Paul Edmiston (BCMB)
The immobilization of enzymes has been extensively cited for use as robust biocatalyst in industrial processes. Immobilization is typically directed towards reinforcing enzyme stability and extending the range of operating conditions over which enzymes remain catalytically active. Sol-gel encapsulation provides a convenient route to immobilize enzymes and other biologicals as a result of the low temperature chemistries required and the fine control over the fabrication of the material. However, conventional protocols for encapsulation involve pre-mixing enzymes in solutions that often lead to denaturation. Swellable organosilica may provide an alternate route to embedding enzymes in inorganic scaffolds. In this work lipase was trapped within swellable organosilica post gel synthesis. Lipase was found to be active within the organosilica as determined by enzyme hydrolysis of 4-nitrophenyl butyrate. Organosilica that swell depend critically on morphologies of the aggregated structures that make up the gel network and pore collapse that occurs during aging of the colloidal gel. A model for particle aggregation and aging of colloidal gels was developed towards predicting and understanding the swellable properties of organosilicas that exhibit them. The model adapts and extends the DLCA model, used to describe the aggregation processes in colloidal gels, to account for gel shrinkage of the aged gel. Model validation against physical quantities suggested that flexibilities in the aggregating structures and rearrangements of the aggregates during aging of the gel are important to the display of swellable properties.
Schematic representation of the sol-gel transition at t = 0, for t < t g
, and for t > t g

(Charleston WV)
Major : Math
Advisor: Drew Pasteur
(Youngstown OH)
Major : Math
Advisor: Jennifer Bowen
A substantial amount of research has been done on finding models that are used for predicting sports outcomes. More research has been conducted involving other sports, including NCAA basketball, than with the NBA. The focus of my study was to see how accurate artificial neural networks would be in predicting the outcome of NBA games and the margin at which the team would win by. The results from artificial neural networks were then compared to linear models to see which model would be more accurate. Data from 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons were used in the models and tested on the 2010-11 season. Another model used was choosing the home team to win and see how accurate this pick would be. Seven different models are compared to find which statistics best fit in predicting NBA outcomes.
An iteration digraph, G(n), generated by the function f(x) (mod n) is a digraph on the set of vertices V={0,1,.. n–
1} with the directed edge set E={(v, f(v)), for all v in V}.
Focusing specifically on the function f(x) =
10x (mod n), we consider the structure of these graphs as it relates to the factors of n. The levels, cycle lengths, and number of cycles are determined for any integer relatively prime to 10.
Isomorphic subgraphs arising from multiples of 3 and 9, and tree structures specific to powers of 2 and 5 are also described.
The full subgraph of G(77) generated by V
1
, and then separated into pairs of 6cycles.

(Portland OR)
Major : Math & Studio Art
Advisors: Pam Pierce & Mary Jo
Kreuzman (Math) and Marina
Mangubi (Studio Art)
The mathematical component of my Independent Study researches the development of hyperbolic geometry and discusses three specific hyperbolic models: the Poincare disk, the upper half-plane and the Beltrami-Klein model. Focusing more on the Poincare disk because of its simplicity, the axiomatic system of hyperbolic geometry is explained. The hyperbolic axiomatic system includes the postulates, definitions, and theorems from absolute geometry, as well as the altered fifth postulate and dependent theorems. The fifth postulate is what separates Euclidean geometry from hyperbolic geometry. When given a line and a point not on the line, there is only one parallel line to the given line through the point in Euclidean geometry, whereas in hyperbolic geometry there are at least two parallels.
The altered hyperbolic fifth postulate affects many theorems and this thesis examines those hyperbolic theorems through three models. Unique to each model is the formula for measuring distance between two points. The distance formula is crucial to understand in order for a model to be consistent with hyperbolic geometry. The Studio Art component of my
Independent Study explores hyperbolic concepts through multiple color block prints. I created several relief multiple color block prints that focused on differences between Euclidean versus hyperbolic theorems. My relief prints retain an immediacy of the action of the carved mark and patterns. The intaglio multiple color prints I created retained more of a tonal effect through the various etching techniques employed. My
Multi-plate copper intaglio piece 1 intaglio prints were inspired by specific concepts in hyperbolic models. Both the relief and intaglio prints rely heavily on the relationship between plates for an effective abstract piece. This includes the image and color choice to best represent the concept from which it was inspired.
Multiple block printing allowed me to create a threedimensional illusion of hyperbolic space in comparison to two-dimensional mathematical diagrams. There is a technical side and an abstract side to my Independent
Study on hyperbolic geometry. The collection of pieces I produced can be understood on multiple levels dependent on the viewer's mathematical knowledge, which is similar to how hyperbolic geometry is understood in many different models. Researching hyperbolic geometry from a mathematical and artistic viewpoint helped round out both components of my Independent Study.
Multi-plate copper intaglio piece 2

(Monclova OH)
This study explores two-person zero-sum game theory. The paper begins by giving a brief history of how game theory was founded. Next the basic definitions of game theory problems are given to help understand the structure of a game. These definitions allow for a section about two-person zero-sum games to be written. In this section lies a proof of the minimax theorem, which is one of the main theorems in game theory. The next chapter shows a few of the different ways to solve two-person game-theory problems.
Knowing what these problems are and how to solve them helps create a real life example. The problem in this paper analyzes a game between the pitcher and a batter in a baseball game. Taking data from the 2011 major league baseball season, a game theory problem was created and solved. The solution was then analyzed to help understand optimal pitch selection.
Major : Math
Advisor: James Hartman
(Pittsburgh PA)
Majors : Math & Computer Science
Advisor: Pamela Pierce (Math) and Jim Daehn (CS)
(Houston TX)
Major : Computer Science &
Biochemistry/Molecular Biology
Advisors: Denise Byrnes (CS) and Dean Fraga (BCMB)
A Web crawler is an automated program that recursively indexes Web pages found by following hyper-links from the parsing of other pages indexed during its crawl. With the World Wide Web’s exponential growth rate, however, standard Web crawlers no longer suffice when the depth of a specific topic is required. A topical, or focussed Web crawler, is one that traverses the Web looking only for sites that are related to some pre-defined topic, while avoiding those not related. This thesis explores and critically analyzes various topical crawling algorithms, details the methods they utilize, introduces our own topical Web crawler, called WooSpider, and presents the results of experiments that measure the effectiveness of various versions of
WooSpider.
An example of a context graph. The green node represents a seed page. The blue nodes that make up layer 1 represent its parents, while the redcolored nodes in layer 2 represent its grandparents.
The 3’ untranslated region of mRNA is of particular interest for determining localization within a cell, and may play a role in evolution of genes. However, the 3’ region is not easy to determine for all mRNA within a cell. A profile of the 3’ untranslated region within Paramecium tetraurelia is explored. This profile can be used to predict the cleavage site as well through the use of a modified Hidden Markov Model. Also, using conserved domains known to bind to mRNA, different mRNA binding proteins were identified in an attempt to identify those that bind to control localization. Concurrently, a method to experimentally determine the 3’ untranslated region was developed as a method to confirm results from the probabilistic model. This was accomplished through first creating cDNA and using a primer 50-200 nt upstream from the stop codon and a poly dT primer to amplify the 3’ untranslated region for sequencing. With the methodology, the predictions can be verified.

(Zenica, Bosnia Herzegowina)
Major : Math & Physics
Advisors: Karen Lewis (Physics) and James Hartman (Math)
It has been observed that approximately 10% to
30% of AGNs show no X-ray absorption, whereas the optical spectrum suggests significant obscuration. One possible explanation is that the obscuring medium consists of dense clumps. In the model, using Monte Carlo simulations, I conduct a study to check whether the clumpiness of the torus is a possible reason for the mismatch in optical and X-ray spectrums. For a variety of torus configurations I have found that there is no mismatch in the number of the clumps intersected between the lines of sight originating
3D rendering of the clumps distribution from the model. The chosen inclination angle is the intermediate inclination angle.
in the X-ray and optical regions. If time variability is assumed I found that, due to clumpiness, it is not possible to change the spectrum of AGN galaxy from absorbed to unabsorbed, but clumps could be responsible for more mild variations in the spectra. If the X-ray and optical spectra are not simultaneously observed there exists some level of disagreement on the degree of obscuration.
(Midway KY)
Major : Math
Advisor: Jennifer Bowen
M.C. Escher was an artist during the early to mid 1900's who primarily focused on woodcuts and lithographs that had a small contribution to the world in mathematics; his most famous being the lithograph Print Gallery in
1956. However, the focus of this thesis is on his works that exhibit characteristics found in the properties of self-similar sets of fractal geometry and properties of projective geometry. The works include two woodcuts that exhibit self-similar sets, and three lithographs, all of which use projective geometry to create optical illusions. Mathematically speaking, in fractal geometry, Hausdorff dimension is discussed using multiple examples that are also self-similar sets. Following, projective geometry is discussed providing the axioms and function of
Image of Escher’s Waterfall projectivities. Lastly, the connections between these two subjects and Escher's art are explored as to how extensive each of the properties are exhibited in the woodcuts and lithographs.
Image of Escher’s Waterfall from a different perspective

(Broadview Heights OH)
Major : Math & Chemistry
Advisors: R. Drew Pasteur (Math) and Karl Feierabend (Chemistry)
Atmospheric aerosols play a major part in climate change by affecting air quality and the balance of radiation impacting our earth. Oxalic acid is a major component of secondary organic aerosols and is hypothesized to produce dimers within an aerosol’s composition, thus increasing the concentration of organic carbons in the air. This study investigates the dimerization of oxalic acid in an “organic material simulator”, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Computational chemistry was used to determine theoretical vibrational frequencies and thermodynamic properties.
Theoretically, it was found that the dimerization of oxalic acid is a nonspontaneous reaction with an equilibrium constant that lies to the reactants, or monomeric units of oxalic acid. Although while following Le Chatelier’s
Principal, as the concentration of the oxalic acid increases the reaction is driven to the products. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to obtain experimental vibrational frequencies. The experimental data supported our hypothesis that as the concentration increased more major peaks were associated with theoretical dimer vibrations. Following, the experimental IR data was used in a model known as band target entropy minimization (BTEM) to reconstruct the pure components of the oxalic acid/
DMSO solution. The model was successful in reconstructing the solvent,
DMSO and some of the major components of the IR spectrum of oxalic acid.
However, the optimization was very unstable while trying to find a local minimum. A sensitivity analysis is needed to analyze the sensitivity of the parameters with respect to the model. From this study it can be concluded that dimerization may occur within an aerosol’s composition but more investigations with other solvent environments are needed.
(Harare Zimbabwe)
Majors : Math & Business
Economics
Advisors: John Ramsay (Math) and John Sell (Business Econ)
Investing in the securities market exposes investors to both market risk and returns. Measurement of expected returns is relatively easy since there is a generally accepted method of calculation. However, there is no consensus on the best way of quantifying security risk. The classical method is to use variance; over time, a number of alternative methods have been developed.
This paper contributes to literature by examining the explanatory power of the nine most cited alternative risk measures in a comprehensive model. Empirical analysis is performed using regression analysis. The main result of the paper is the observation of a direct relationship between risk and returns, as predicted by theory. The risk measures that display consistent,
Plane and Ellipsoids representing return and risk levels respectively significant explanatory power are Sharpe’s β , kurtosis, value at risk and market capitalization. Results of the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test for normality confirm that 82% of the security returns did not come from a normal distribution. The paper also develops the critical line algorithm used for calculating optimal portfolios leading to the derivation of the efficient frontier.

(Kalamazoo MI)
Major : Math
Advisor: R. Drew Pasteur
NFL field goal kickers are often criticized for failing to make crucial field goals, but the best kickers are rarely recognized for being such. In an era of growing statistical research, field goal kicking is not widely studied to the same extent as other statistics. This project uses artificial neural networks to create difficulty ratings for NFL field goals.
Using these ratings, kickers are evaluated based on a points added system as well as numerous other metrics, and there are clear distinctions between most kickers. Despite popular opinion that field goal kickers are largely replaceable, this study shows just how different kickers are and how to recognize which ones are the most successful.
This paper investigates using Perlin Noise in a three-dimensional environment. Perlin Noise has previously been used to simulate clouds, marble, wood, and other natural phenomena as well as to model virtual landscapes. The simulation created for the I.S. procedurally generates both static and animated textures and models virtual landscapes to create a virtual world. In order to keep up with the rapidly advancing graphics industry, the OpenGL API is utilized to generate the textures in real-time and to display the final product.
(Richmond Heights OH)
Major : Computer Science
Advisor: Denise Byrnes
Advanced GLSL Noise Texturing

(Wooster OH)
Majors : Math & History
This work investigates the coding theory, cryptology and the role of cryptology in the development of American intelligence gathering. Coding theory and cryptology are both mathematical studies that change a set of data into another form, but each has a different purpose. Codes are used to correct transmission errors, while ciphers are used to secure data from unwanted readers. The rise of
American cryptology was the driving force behind the rise of American intelligence through the twentieth century. America had little intelligence gathering before it started its period of expansion, creating an intelligence void that needed filled.
The rise of cryptologic intelligence helped Americans fill that void.
Advisors: Jennifer Bowen (Math) and Jeff Roche (History)
(St. Mary Jamaica)
Majors : Math & Physics
Kryptos , an encrypted sculpture at
CIA headquarters in Langley VA.
Quantum Gravity is an attempt to unify the current understanding of the microworld (governed by quantum mechanics) with the current understanding of the macroworld (governed by general relativity). This thesis provides a brief overview of the problem of quantum gravity, including conceptual as well as technical overviews of general relativity and quantum mechanics. It explores a conservative approach to quantizing gravity known as Causal Dynamical Triangulation (CDT). CDT constructs spacetime from triangular-like building blocks known as simplexes.
Combining quantum mechanics and general relativity by a sum-overgeometries, CDT demonstrates that microcausality implies classical global spacetime. This thesis focuses on a bare 1+1 dimensional universe. It converts the Einstein-Hilbert action of general relativity (from which one can recover the Einstein Field Equations using the principle of least action) from continuous to discrete form using the Gauss-Bonnet theorem, which is rigorously developed. This thesis proves a version of the theorem on two dimensional Euclidean polyhedra and sketches a proof on Pseudo-
Riemannian spaces. Finally, it describes the design, construction, and operation of a computer simulation of a bare 1+1 dimensional CDT universe.
It uses the simulation to find a critical value for the cosmological constant and computes the corresponding fluctuations in the spatial size of the universe, which it compares with analytical results.
Advisors: John Ramsay (Math) &
John Lindner (Physics)
Triangulation of a surface

This thesis provides an introduction to several topics in multivariate statistics. The topics investigated include the multivariate normal distribution, discriminant analysis, and the T 2 -test. This thesis yields a reasonable blend of theory and practice. There is sufficient theory introduced to make the topics mathematically interesting as well as a blend of real-world examples in order display ways in which the discussed techniques are applicable to various multivariate data.
(Twinsburg OH)
Major : Math
Advisor: James Hartman
(Englewood CO)
Major : Math
Advisor: John Ramsay
The comprehensive topic of research for this project is staff scheduling. The goal of the thesis is to develop a unique staff scheduling linear programming model for summer conference student staff scheduling at Wooster. The model design is based on the needs and priorities of Wooster’s summer conference staff scheduling. The College of Wooster Student Activities Office hires a small team of students every summer to staff the Wooster Summer
Conferences. These “conferences” include athletics camps as well as more traditional conference activities. Modeling work in this thesis presents a
“proof of concept.” That is, there has been enough preliminary research and work done to verify this as a way to model staff preferences. The models solved focused on the staff level ability to meet demand and maximizing staff preferences. The Wooster model formulated aims to maximize student preferences given a set number of staff. The solutions to the model yield a level of at which staff preferences are satisfied for a particular staff level.
The marginal increase in the normalized solution values as we move from 6 to 7 up to 8 staff members demonstrates the model moves closer to an ideal preference level. The results will then not necessarily be the optimal solution found from each model, but rather an
Rounding the optimal solution can cause infeasibility extrapolation of information from those solutions that demonstrates how much they are able to increase students preferences marginally. With set objectives in mind research and model design began.

(Wellington OH)
Major : Math
Advisor: R. Drew Pasteur
This research is modeling the expected number of shots to hole out from anywhere on the golf course. This research could potentially be used to improve one’s golf game or see where their game needs work. The author has received permission from the PGA Tour to use ShotLink data and has used this data to help compute the expected number of shot values. While using the model made based on the expected number of shots to hole out, the author has also looked at two very distinct
Driving scenario used in this research applications of this model. The first involves a driving scenario that takes into account a risk/reward situation that puts an emphasis on choosing to play aggressive or playing conservative.
Finally, the second application looks at an approach shot scenario in which multiple golfers of different skill levels are hitting into a green. This scenario then helps determine which target each player should use to get the best possible result based on the expected number of shots.
Majors
(Wheeling WV)
: Math & Computer Science
Advisors: James Hartman (Math) and Denise Byrnes (CS)
This Senior Independent Study investigates opinion dynamics from a computational modeling perspective. We begin by looking into Markov chain theory as a potential technique for this study, however, this is found to be computationally infeasible. As a result, we then explore cellular automata and the more general field of agent-based modeling as methods to simulate social change. Inspired by the results of the
Singaporean governments changing population policies, we investigate how government propaganda affects internally driven social change. Building upon an
The six closed sets in the 2x2 majority model with randomized neighbor thresholds existing agent-based model that simulates how opinions spread from social influence, we develop a model that examines resulting opinion configurations when outside influences, namely government campaigns, are factored in.

(Beijing China)
Majors : Math & Computer Science
Life is cumulative, so is data. In our life, people are overwhelmed by vast quantities of data collected for various purposes.
However, little information is known from the huge data set. Data mining is used to discover the knowledge from the data sets.
Data mining is a fast growing field, and it has various applications, such as in finance, marketing, and agriculture. It combines advanced statistical analysis.
This independent study investigates several important data mining techniques such as linear regression, artificial neural networks and Bayesian learning.
Geometric explanation of decision plane. The hyperplane separates the space into R1 and R2.
The variable r is the distance between x and x p
.
Advisors: James Hartman (Math) and Denise Byrnes (CS)
(Sewickley PA)
Major : Computer Science
Advisor: Denise Byrnes (CS)
This paper examines the nature inspired machine intelligence methods of swarm intelligence and evolutionary computing. Swarm intelligence algorithms utilize stigmergy, indirect communication through environmental changes, to create emergent, complex, cooperative behavior amongst primitive, “dumb” actors. Some examples of such algorithms are Ant
Colony Optimization, based on ant foraging behavior and the use of trail pheromones, Firefly Algorithm, based on the bioluminescence fireflies use to attract other fireflies and the concept of light dispersal with distance, and Wasp
Nest Building Algorithms, based on the cooperative nest building of many wasp species. Contrary to popular belief, when building nests experimental evidence has indicated that it is not due to an internal blueprint but rather reactions to environmental states that drives the actions of each wasp - in other words,
Architectural form of a terraced tower generated in the simulation using a hand-crafted rule set wasps employ stigmergy to build their nests. The nest building algorithm utilizes a population of agents moving about in a 3-dimensional (3D) environment and who, given a set of “building rules”, place building blocks in the environment in order to construct an architectural form. Evolutionary computing employs methods from Darwinian evolution and genetic theory to produce a solution to a problem through the creation of successive populations of possible candidate solutions. The problem controls the evolutionary process through a fitness function that evaluates the quality candidates' solutions and drives selection and reproduction opportunities.
This paper examines the implementation and applications of these natureinspired swarm intelligence algorithms in conjunction with evolutionary computing and the potential to implement an evolutionary wasp nest building algorithm that evolves the ability to generate a desired architectural form.

(Worthington OH)
Major : Computer Science
Advisor: Jim Daehn
This project aims to examine data mining. It aims to gather data from the
Linux source code and mine to the collected data using three data mining algorithms, Clustering, Association Rules, and Decision Trees. Each algorithm will be implemented in a piece of code created specifically for this project. Library research into the three specified algorithms will be a necessity as well as the encoding of the programs themselves. A potential problem that this project may hold is that there may be no discernible patterns within the Linux source, and data mining it would produce no conclusive results.
Human papillomavirus (HPV) is the most common sexually transmitted infection. In the United States, of those who are sexually active, 75% will be infected with HPV at some point in their lifetime. Recent developments have led to a vaccine that prevents associated cancers caused by HPV infections.
This thesis develops a dynamical mathematical model representing HPV in a population considering vaccination. Equilibria and bifurcations from the
HPV model are then examined.
(East Lansing MI)
Major : Math
Advisor: R. Drew Pasteur
Jacobian matrix with values from the experimentally found endemic equilibrium

(Kingston Jamaica)
Major : Math & Physics
Advisor: Pam Pierce (Math) and
Cody Leary (Physics)
The experiment involved parity based measurement and control of the spatial wave functions of photons. To achieve this, the theory was developed for a 1-dimensional parity based interferometer. This interferometer was capable of taking a laser beam input that consisted of a specific solution set of Hermite-Gaussian modes and span of this solution set as well. The resulting theory was then modeled for several types of input beams and simulated for several special cases. The mathematical relationships governing the interferometer were exploited and simplified to establish a general matrix with complex entries that would model the output of any beam input to the interferometer. It was then proven that this governing matrix was unitary. The modeled interferometer was then built and the results of multiple input beams were analyzed through the theory and simulations that were built based off of the general interferometer matrix. By analyzing certain properties of beams that were input to the interferometer, one could in effect determine certain properties of the photons that could not otherwise be measure without losing the usefulness of the photon. By tweaking parameters within the interferometer one could also change the output of the interferometer without changing the input beam. This is changing the spatial wave function of the photon. In this respect the experiment achieved its purpose although much can still be done to optimize the interferometer set up and effectively learn more about the input beams.
By changing the parameters in the spherical coordinates
θ and φ one can create any rst order mode. All first order modes can be represented as some point on the sphere, thus this sphere visually represents the entire vector space described in the experiment.
(Akron OH)
Major : Math & Business Economics
Advisor: James Hartman (Math) and John Sell (Business Economics)
Ever since the concept of market efficiency was defined, individuals have been trying to find ways to measure, test, and show different levels of efficiency in markets. Efficient markets show a reflection in value from information. This study concerns itself with the market for securities.
Specifically, it is concerned with the question, ‘What effect does the options market have on the efficiency of the underlying security?’ Given the above question, this study takes the position that the options market has a narrowing effect on the transactions cost of a security, which stands as a measure of market efficiency. As such, it is noted that the existence of the option allows dealers to better value the underlying security, and thus the market is more efficient. This study derives an option pricing model, follows it with a theoretical section, and then outlines the expected negative relationship between the options market and the efficiency of a market, due to the options market being an additional piece of relevant information regarding the security’s future performance. It then offers an empirical test of this hypothesis, the results of which do not support this hypothesis.

FACULTY
At Wooster since 1994
BA, Amherst 1985
MEd Massachusetts 1986
MS, MPhil, PhD Syracuse
1988, 1992, 1994
At Wooster since 1981
BA, Manchester 1975
MS, PhD Michigan State
1977, 1981
CHAIRPERSON & PROFESSOR OF
MATHEMATICS
After attending the 35 th annual Summer
Symposium in Real Analysis which was held in
Budapest, Hungary during the summer of 2011,
Dr. Pierce wrote the article, “Math Flavored
Budapest”, which describes the events of the conference and its importance to the global community of scholars in
Courses taught
2011-12
Investigating Risk in our W orld”
Discrete Mathematics
Putnam Problem Seminar
Combinatorics and Graph Theory
Real Analysis. The article appeared in FOCUS , the national magazine of the
Mathematical
Association of America,
Calculus for the Social Sciences
Senior Independent Study:
1.
2.
in January of 2012. Dr.
Pierce also attended the
National Joint
Meetings of the AMS/
MAA in Boston. She
3.
4.
Geometry/Mathematics a
Studio Art (Rachel Frank) nd gave a colloquium talk at Ohio Wesleyan
University entitled “Circle Squaring and
Other Puzzles”. On campus, Dr. Pierce was a member of the proposal committee which
Function of Photons
(Mohammad Saif Ahmad) was awarded an S-STEM Grant from NSF’s Scholarships in Science,
Technology, Engineering and Mathematics program in the amount of $600,000 to support the College’s efforts to attract and retain underrepresented groups in
STEM fields.
PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS
Dr. Hartman and former student Bianca
Edwards co-authored the article “Powers of
Magic Matrices” in The Mathematical Gazette (Vol
95, 533, July 2011, pp. 284-292.) He gave a colloquium by the same title at Denison
University in February. He continues his involvement in College Board activities in the area of Advanced Placement (AP). He served as both the director and an instructor for
Wooster’s AP Summer Institute and is a
College Board endorsed consultant who led workshops for AP Calculus teachers in Grand
Rapids MI, Indianapolis IN, and at
Northwestern University. He served as the
AP Calculus AB Exam Leader in the summer of 2012. He was a reviewer for several statistics textbooks and revised the instructor’s manual of a calculus text. He served as chair of the Wooster faculty’s
Financial Advisory Committee. Dr.
Hartman’s current areas of research include special types of matrices
(nonnegative ones in particular) and the
Weyr form for a matrix.
6.
Courses taught
2011-12
Probability and Statistics I (2 sections)
Probability and Statistics II
Real Analysis I
Real Analysis II
Senior Independent Study:
1.
Two-person Zero-sum Game
Stidham)
Josh
2.
Monte Carlo Simulations of
the
3.
Multivariate Statistics (Josh Dailey)
4.
Is Efficiency Optional? A study regarding the binomial options pricing model, transactions costs and the implications of
, market efficiency (Andrew Licking)
5.
Computational Science P
(Trisha Fultz) erspective

FACULTY
At Wooster since 1987
BA, Berea 1980
MS, PhD Wisconsin 1984,
1985
At Wooster since 2007
BA, Boston College 1998
MS, PhD 2001, 2005
PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS AND
DIRECTOR OF THE AMRE PROGRAM
Prof. Ramsay attended the 2012 Joint
Mathematics Meetings of the MAA/AMA in
Boston and presented a paper at the session on
Business, Industry and Government Special
Interest titled “Tires, Insurance, and a Dairy:
Applications of Undergraduate Consulting” which highlighted the success of Wooster’s
Applied Mathematics Research & Experience
(AMRE), the program he has
Courses taught
2011-12
Linear Algebra (2 sections)
Calculus I
Topology
Senior Independent Study:
1.
The Wooster Model: A Sta ff
Application to Student Activities
(Hannah Dauber)
2.
directed since 1994. On campus, he taught the
Linear Algebra course for the first time. With
Jennifer Bowen , he gave a Faculty-at-
Large lecture,
“Knots, Links and
Bottles: Pure Math with a
Twist.” He also served as a
3.
4.
Compensation & the Negotiation
Process (Bryan McDonald) board member for the College’s Center for
Entrepreneurship and was the faculty advisor to the Math Club. In the coming year, Professor Ramsay will become the Associate Dean of Experiential
Learning, a role in which he hopes to establish an experiential learning program to support and market this type of learning at Wooster.
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS
Dr. Bowen continued to work on algebraic research related to centroids Jordan superalgebras over superscalars. She attended the conference on Nonassociate Algebra in
Action: Past, Present, and Future at the
University of Virginia this past fall. She also attended the Boston Joint AMA/MAA meeting where she facilitated a workshop on graduate education mentoring for women. She serves on the MAA National Committee for Early Career
Mathematicians. On campus, she gave a talk at
Philosophy Roundtable entitled “Is Math
Invented or Discovered” and serves on the faculty’s Educational Policy Committee. Dr.
Bowen has contributed a chapter called
“Intersectionality and my Practice of Teaching
Mathematics” to a forthcoming book Teaching,
Learning, and Intersecting Identities in Higher Education ,
Banks and Pilner (in press).
Courses taught
2011-12
(2 sections)
Abstract Algebra
Senior Independent Study:
1.
2.
and Projective Geometry
Art (Adam Trontz )
Welcome...
Carys Isabel Bowen born 5/24/12
7 lbs 7 oz daughter of Jason & Jennif er

FACULTY
At Wooster since 2008
BS, MEd Florida 1996, 1997
MS, PhD North Carolina
State 2004, 2008
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS
Prof. Pasteur co-authored two articles that appeared in the Journal of Quantitative Analysis in
Sports , both of which stemmed from lines of research involving Wooster students. He was the organizer for a session on math and sports at the 2012 AMS/MAA Joint Mathematics
Meetings, which was featured on the National
Public Radio program, Only a Game. Several local/regional newspapers featured articles relating to Dr. Pasteur’s high school football rankings, including the Canton Repository (Oct.
21, 2011), the Springfield News-Sun (Oct. 14, 2011) and the Wooster Daily Record (Oct. 9, 2011). He attended Western Kentucky University’s
Mathematics Symposium where the theme for the meeting was Mathematics and Sports, and Dr. Pasteur presented “Resources for
Undergraduate Research in Sports
2.
3.
Courses taught
2011-12
Calculus II (2 sections)
Math in Contemporary Society
Mathematical Modeling
Problem Solving Semina r
Senior Independent Study:
1.
Entrapment and determination of lipase embedded in sw organosilica, modeling pa rticle of oxalic acid, a potential r eaction
Analytics”. Dr. Pasteur served on the
College’s ad hoc Science Building Steering
Committee, and along with the Provost and other science faculty traveled to the
Midwest, visiting St. Thomas, Macalester and St. Olaf in Minnesota, Grinnell in Iowa and Beloit in Wisconsin, all of which have new or recently renovated science facilities.
4.
Using mathematical models to evaluate NFL field goal kicking
(Kyle Cunningham-Rhoads)
5.
6.
Model looking at the expected number of shots to hole out on a golf course (Blake Sword)
At Wooster since 1991
BS, MS, PhD The Ohio State
University 1985, 1987, 1992
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF
COMPUTER SCIENCE
Professor Byrnes added a 3-D modeling component to her
Computer Graphics course as well as a Perlin Noise module for texture generation. One of her current projects is an interdisciplinary project investigating the new release of Microsoft’s Kinect system for personal computers, in reference to the appropriate
“gestures” for transformation of 3-D chemical molecular models. The results of this project will be used to develop new pedagogies in chemistry and computer science courses.
Courses taught 2011-12
Animation, Gaming & 3D Virtual Worlds
Computer Programming II + la b
Computer Graphics
Algorithms
Theory of Computation
Computer Networking (tutorial)
Senior Independent Study:
1.
untranslated region within Paramecium tetr the 3’ aurela
2.
Procedurally generating everything (Mica
3.
4.
5.
Computer generated architecture through natur ry e: computing to generate 3D models (
Jason Palevsky)
Data Mining and its Applications (Y anlong Hu)

FACULTY
At Wooster since 2008
BS Sibiu (Romania) 1998
MS, PhD Cincinnati 2002,
2007
At Wooster since 2010
BS SUNY Oswego 1992
MS R.I.T. 1994
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF COMPUTER
SCIENCE
Prof. Visa spent her fall semester research leave in collaboration with Dr. Esther van der Knaap of OSU/OARDC and began research in modeling networks of genes that influence size and shape in tomato fruits. This research is funded by an
NSF grant awarded in 2009. She co-taught the
Bioinformatics course with a Biology faculty member and added 11 new modules when they switched to Python programming. She presented a paper at the Fifth International
Conference on Scalable Uncertainty
Management (SUM-2011) in Dayton, OH. Dr.
Visa was the Program Committee Chair and the editor of the proceedings for the 23rd
Midwest Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive
Science Conference held in Cincinnati in April, and she was a Program Committee member for the International Conference on
Computers, Communications & Control in
Romania in June 2012. She also attended a
Courses taught
2011-12
Computer Programming I + lab
Introduction to Bioinformatics
Publications:
Framework for Segmentation
using
International Journal of Information
29-37, 2012.
NSF sponsored workshop in Bioinformatics in Houston, TX. In July she presented a paper “Interdisciplinary Teaching and Research at a Liberal Arts College on
Computational Biology” at the 16th World Multiconference on Systemics,
Cybernetics & Informatics (Orlando FL). This paper was co-authored by Drew
Pasteur and two Wooster biologists.
Courses taught
2011-12
VISITING ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF
COMPUTER SCIENCE
Professor Daehn served as coach for two teams of computer science students who competed in the ACM International Collegiate Programming
Contest at Youngstown State. We wish
Professor Daehn and his family all the best as they relocate to Missouri.
Computer Programming I & II + labs
Principles of Computer Organization
Problem Seminar
Theory of Computation
VISITING ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
OF MATHEMATICS
Software Engineering (tutorial)
Senior Independent Study:
1.
2.
Courses taught
2011-12 examination of data mining
(Atticus Jack)
Transition to Advanced Mathematics
Multivariate Calculus (2 sections)
Senior Independent Study:
1.
Geometry/Mathematics a
Studio Art (Rachel Frank) nd
At Wooster since 1990
BS Xavier 1980
MS, PhD Notre Dame 1982, 1985

STAFF
At Wooster since 1986
BS, University of Findlay 1971
MAT The College of Wooster
1975
COORDINATOR OF
THE MATH CENTER
Ms. Barbu joined the department in 1986 and served as an adjunct instructor and coordinator of the Math Center for the next 26 years until her retirement this past spring. We thank Linda for her years of dedicated service to the
College and to many, many students. A retirement dinner was hosted by the department at TJ’s Restaurant, and Linda made the event memorable by telling an anecdote about each of her colleagues in the department, then led everyone in a rousing modified rendition of “Help me Ronda” to welcome the new Math Center coordinator, Ronda Kirsch.
TO THE TUNE OF THE BEACH BOYS “HELP ME RHONDA”
(4 bar introduction) I registered for Greek
End - ed up with calc instead.
And since I went to class
Can't sleep for my pounding head.
Well, Ronda explains so fine
And I know it wouldn't take much time
For you to help me Ronda
Find this lim - it with co-sine.
. . .
Help me Ronda yeah, pass the ne-xt ex-am.
(2 bar transition) I was gonna derivate
With the best in the entire land;
But quotient rule, chain rule
Related rates wrecked the plan.
Well Ronda you heard my sigh
I can give you lots of reasons why
You gotta help me Ronda
Square dee ex o-ver dee why.
. . .
Help me Ronda yeah, pass the ne-xt ex-am.
(2 bar transition) On to Riemann sums I'm
Filled with a terrible dread.
I come in late at night
Feeling I'm as good as dead.
Well, Ronda you ease my mind
Knowing I can tru-ly find
That you will help me Ronda
Grasp the in-te-gral de-fined.
. . .
Help me Ronda yeah, pass the la-st ex-am.
At Wooster since 2011
BS, MA Kent State 2008,
2010
INSTRUCTOR OF MATHEMATICS
Ms. Kirsch joined the department in fall of
2011 after teaching math at Stark State
Technical College and Kent State Stark
Campus. In the coming year, in addition to teaching duties, she will be the new
Coordinator of the Math Center. We are thrilled to have Ronda on board!
Courses taught
2011-12
Calculus with Algebra A (3 Sections
)
Calculus with Algebra B (2 Sections)
Basic Statistics

THE FOSTER PRIZE IN
MATHEMATICS
Hannah Elizabeth Dauber ’12
Ian Alexander Sharp ’12
THE ELIZABETH SIDWELL
PRIZE IN MATHEMATICS &
COMPUTER SCIENCE
Trisha Louise Fultz ’12 (Math
& Computer Science)
THE VIVIEN CHAN PRIZE IN
INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES
Melissa Ann Venecek ’12
(Mathematics & Chemistry)
Professor Pierce and Professor Bo wen accompanied Math & CS majors who were recognized at the Recognition Celebration held in February.
THE WILLIAM H. WILSON PRIZE IN MATHEMATICS
Hannah Joy Roberts (Mathematics)
THE GEORGE OLSON PRIZE IN ART
Rachel Gilbertson Frank (Mathematics & Studio Art)
THE INTERNATIONAL PAPER COMPANY FOUNDATION
Nancy Tuvimbo Tinoza (Mathematics & Business Economics)
Latin Honors
Hannah Joy Roberts
Rachel Gilbertson Frank
Trisha Louise Fultz
Nancy Ruvimbo Tinoza
Meredith Christine Kiefer
Andrew Michael Licking
Phi Beta Kappa
Andrew Blaikie ’13
Rachel Gilbertson Frank ’12
Trisha Louise Fultz ’12
Hannah Joy Roberts ’12
Sarah Smith-Polderman ’13
Nancy Ruvimbo Tinoza ’12
THE DAN F. LOCKHART OUTSTANDING SENIOR AWARD
Melissa Ann Venecek (Mathematics & Chemistry)
A SPECIAL HONOR...
THE WM WALLACE CHAPPELL–ELIZABETH DALTON MEMORIAL PRIZE
Hannah Elizabeth Dauber ’12 (Mathematics)
THE LYMAN C. KNIGHT PRIZE IN MATHEMATICS & PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Zachary Michael Sessa ’14 (Mathematics)
THE THERON PETERSON AND DOROTHY PETERSON AWARD FOR
OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT
David Richard Freund ’13 (Mathematics) leadership and personnel policies that support employee participation in the major in physics and political science nominated five of her Wooster
,
presented
to: Dr. Karen Lewis (Physics), Dr. Susan Lehman (Physics), Dr. Jeffrey Lantis (Political
Science), Dr. Don Jacobs (Physics) and Dr. Jennifer Bowen (Mathematics)

Professor Daehn prepped and accompanied two teams of
Wooster computer science students to the ACM’s
International Collegiate
Programming Contest (East
Central North America region) at Youngstown State University.
Both teams came away with
Honorable Mention for their efforts.
S.M.A.A.C. High
S c h o o l M a t h
Contest, April 21
Just for fun...can you solve this problem from our high school math contest team test? (almost every team got whole or partial credit on this one!)
The Chinese game of nim is played as follows: There are several piles of matches, each containing an arbitrary number of matches at the start of the game. To make a move, a player who removes the last match wins the game.
A winning position is an arrangement of matches in piles such that if a player can move to this position, then
(no matter what the second player does) the first player can continue to play in a way that will win the game.
Show that the position in nim where there are two piles, each with two matches, is a winning position for the second player.
S.M.A.A.C. (MATH CLUB)
S.M.A.A.C. (Math Club) held its ann ual
HIgh School Math Contest with gr eat participation by young mathematics students from area schools. The preliminary exam was taken in
November by 508 students at 18 high schools. The top scoring schools were invited to campus to participate in the finals. In addition to the schools mentioned above, St. Vincent
St. Mary and Minerva High Schools also participated in the finals.

• • •
• • •
• • •
• • •

Andrew Blaikie*, Gabriel Abud*, J.A. David, and R.D. Pasteur, “NFL and NCAA Football
Prediction using Artificial Neural Networks,” Midstates Conference for Undergraduate
Research in Computer Science and Mathematics , Denison University, Granville OH, 2011.
Bennjamin Snyder,* Ruth Steinhour*, Joshua Thomas*, Denise Byrnes and John David,
“Extending the Schwartz-Saltikov Algorithm to Visualize Three-Dimensional Particle
Distributions,” Midstates Conference for Undergraduate Research in Computer Science and
Mathematics , Denison University, Granville OH, 2011.
Andrew D. Blaikie*, Gabriel J. Abud*, John A. David and R. Drew Pasteur. “Pursuing an optimal statistically-based model for NFL prediction,” Joint Mathematics Meeting,
Boston MA, 2012.
Melissa Venecek*, Tyler Janes, Wm Cuello, and Jill Jessee, Physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling of metabolic pathways of bromochloromethane in rats,” Joint Mathematics Meeting, Boston MA, 2012 (Summer 2011 REU at North
Carolina State).
Theresa Albon*, Paul Edmiston and Susan Lehman, “Investigation of Forces Exerted
During the Expansion of Nanomechanically Tensioned Organosilica Materials,” National
Meeting of the American Physical Society, Boston MA, 2012.
Norman Israel* and John Lindner, “Pure Quantum Gravity Simulation in 1+1 Dimensions
Using Causal Dynamical Triangulation,” National Meeting of the American Physical
Society, Boston MA, 2012.
JOHN W. WARNER JR.,
PROFESSOR EMERITUS
OF MATHEMATICS
The Department notes with sadness the passing of John W.
Warner Jr., professor emeritus of mathematics at The College of Wooster, who died in
Davenport, Iowa, on Feb. 26.
He was 94.
Warner joined the Wooster faculty in 1958 and taught here in both the mathematics and education departments until his retirement in 1983.
The Math/CS team’s turnout was small, but their bowling scores were impressive! Math/CS retains possession of the giant slide rule for yet another year!

AMRE
2012
APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
Sarah Laper and Kevin Dinh
Advised by: R. Drew Pasteur
(Math) and Susan Lehman
(Physics)
MODELING TENSION IN WOUND POLYESTER FILM
This project applied winding concepts such as radial pressure, yield point, Young’s modulus, friction, and Hakiel’s simple winding model to predict the occurrence of telescoping and dimpling, two common winding defects at Kent
Displays©, in polyethylene terephthalate
(PET) rolls, which are used to make Boogie
Boards. Hakiel’s simple winding model was closely examined and implemented in
MATLAB® during the early stages of this project. After validating the predicted pressure measurements from Hakiel’s model with measurements taken at Kent Displays©, telescoping and dimpling were then examined. In addition to discovering the location and frequency of telescoping and dimpling in PET rolls, common winding variables, such as taper percent; roll length; initial tension; radial, tangential, and core modulus were closely studied. Lastly, a list was compiled on how altering winding variables affects radial pressure in a wound roll.
Jubilate Lema, Xin Lv, and
Joseph Wilch
Advised by Pam Pierce and John
Ramsay (Mathematics)
COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE:
ANALYZING AGENCY DATA
The purpose of this AMRE project was to analyze data collected from independent agents across the country to determine in what demographic groups
Progressive is not competitive, either offering a premium too low or offering a premium too high.
An analogous goal was to figure out which variables
Progressive weighs differently in respect to how they set premiums compared to the competition. Our results will give Progressive Insurance a better idea of areas where they could be more successful.
AMRE 2012
(19TH YEAR)
Glenn Caventer, Ryan Snyder, and Kazuki Kyotani
Advised by R. Drew Pasteur
(Mathematics) and Sofia Visa
(Computer Science)
ANALYSIS OF STUDENT RETENTION AT THE COLLEGE OF WOOSTER
The purpose of this project was to analyze data in order to better understand student retention, specifically, students who left The College of Wooster. How can we utilize admissions data to predict the likelihood that a student will leave the College by the end of his or her first year?
Using additional information attained during a student’s first semester, how well can we predict the likelihood that a student will leave the College by the end of his or her first year? Which students are most at risk of not graduating in four years? We attempted to answer those three questions using several methods, such as probit regressions and artificial neural networks.

AMRE
2012
Michelle Blackwood
Advised by: Sofia Visa
(Computer Science)
APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
FINDING REGULATORY MOTIFS IN THE SOLANUM LYCOPERSICUM GENES
Transcription factor binding sites (motifs) are small portions of proteins that are homologous to regions in other proteins. To date, such motifs of genes in the Solanum Lycopersicum (tomato) have not been discovered. This research seeks to find potential transcription factor binding sites (promoters or motifs) of genes in the
Solanum Lycopersicum plant with the hope that this will give insight into those genes that are similarly regulated. This research was performed at Ohio Agricultural Research and
Development Center.
Sarah Smith-Polderman,
Danielle Shepherd and Joseph
Smith
Advised by Jennifer Bowen and
John Ramsay (Mathematics)
UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH IN KNOT THEORY
This project is a continuation of past research. During our time this summer, our team created a digital catalogue of over 50 Klein links. In addition, we investigated connections between the invariants of torus links and Klein links with the goal of further understanding the effects of our construction. Through this research, we were able to discover results that related the crossing number of torus links to Klein links and
Klein links to Klein links. After developing these ideas further, we created a paper that involved these findings and hope to publish these results in the future. We will be presenting a portion of our findings at the 2012 UnKnot Conference at Denison University.
Bennjamin Snyder and Norman
Chamusah
Advised by Nicholas Shaw
(Chemistry) and Denise Byrnes
(Computer Science)
MOLECULAR IMAGING USING KINECT
The goal of this project is to extend the work of the Molecular Playground for use in an educational environment. The Molecular Playground is a hardware-software installation that allows the user to rotate 3-D chemical molecules.
This is done by capturing hand positions detected by the Kinect camera and sending these positions to a 3-D modeler. Our extensions also support 3-
D rotations and add x-y translations, molecule selection and partial molecule rotation. This allows the chemistry instructor to interact more naturally with the model and without direct contact with the hardware.

AMRE
2012
Ana Godonoga, Matt Lambert, and Allie Webb
Advised by: John Ramsay
(Mathematics) and Lisa Verdon
(Business Economics)
APPLIED MATHEMATICS AND RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
MODELING EMPLOYEE FLIGHT RISK FOR
AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL GROUP, INC.
The goal of this project was to develop a model that will allow AIG to predict, based on key variables, an employee's likelihood of leaving the company. The work toward this goal resulted in a variety of deliverables provided for AIG. First, the
AMRE team cleaned and recoded several databases of uncombed data which were then merged into one master data file to be used for statistical analysis. In addition to this new "statistics-friendly" database, a data cleaning program was created in Microsoft Excel. This program gives AIG a tool that will speed the data cleaning process as they add new data for analysis.
Third, some static snapshot analysis was performed on the new master data file. Key variables in flight risk prediction were determined through literature research and statistical tests. A few noteworthy findings were shared with AIG with recommendation to pursue this analysis further as more data becomes available. Finally, a mathematical model for predicting employee flight risk was created. The model is based on Probit analysis and assigns a flight risk probability to each employee based on key profile variables. AIG was provided a final set of recommendations for ways to improve their systems and data gathering techniques as they continue with their predictive analytics efforts.
Julia Land, Eric Petry and Giang
Nguyen
Advised by Lisa Verdon
(Business Economics) and Pam
Pierce (Mathematics)
ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK FOR EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING AT
THE COLLEGE OF WOOSTER
This project is a continuation of the 2011 AMRE project: College of Wooster Assessment. We conducted research on experiential learning (EL) in general and EL opportunities at Wooster in particular. Our goals were: 1) create clear guidelines for each tier, along which EL programs can be classified and 2) develop assessment tools for EL programs which reflect the unique nature of each program. We investigated and developed a model for EL, which is the foundation for our threetiered classification framework. In the assessment component, we created assessment tools and assessment processes pertinent to two different groups of EL programs. These tools should help the College make more informed and effective decisions regarding the allocation of support to and investment in EL programs. We also outlined the EL process that students might have to undertake in order to participate in EL experiences.