W Scores Well In Regional Math Challenge

COLUMBUS, Miss. — From calculus to topology, four W students answered all the questions at the annual Louisiana/Mississippi Section of the Mathematical Association of America.

Daly Jolly, Sumitra Karki, Maggie Leake and Liz Serio attended the annual competition in Long Beach in February. During the competition, students were given an exam that was a collection of 20 mathematical questions covering calculus, differential equations, set theory and topology.

“The competition is a great opportunity for students to challenge themselves mathematically against students from other universities.  Daly, Maggie, Sumitra and Liz enjoy mathematics and are very strong at it,” said Dorothy Kerzel, professor of mathematics. “I think they enjoyed using their knowledge and skills and pushing themselves in a competitive setting. And working collaboratively as a team is a bit different than their usual approach to mathematics.”

To prepare for the competition, students worked under the guidance of Kerzel. The weekly sessions that began in August focused on problem solving, review of past mathematics, learning new mathematics and working collaboratively.

“The students practiced with challenging problems that are intimidating when initially read, and they worked at being patient and persistent in attacking the problems that are more involved than typical homework problems,” stated Kerzel.

Fifteen teams competed in the competition with The W finishing in sixth place. Students also attended various talks on mathematics research and topics related to effectively teaching mathematics while at the conference.