THE NEWSLETTER OF THE MATHEMATICAL ASSOCIAnON OF AMERICA Martin Gardner Receives JPBM voIome 14, Number 4 Communications Award Martin Gardner has been named the 1994 the United States Navy recipient of the Joint Policy Board for Math­ and served until the end ematics Communications Award. Author of of the Second World In this Issue numerous books and articles about mathemat­ War. He began his Sci­ ics' Gardner isbest known for thelong-running entific Americancolumn "Mathematical Games" column in Scientific in December 1956. 4 CD-ROM American. For nearly forty years, Gardner, The MAA is proud to count Gardneras one of its Textbooks and through his column and books, has exertedan authors. He has published four books with the enormous influence on mathematicians and Calculus Association, with three more in thepipeline. This students of mathematics. September, he begins "Gardner's Gatherings," 6 Open Secrets When asked about the appeal of mathemat­ a new column in Math Horizons. ics, Gardner said, "It's just the patterns, and Previous JPBM Communications Awards have their order-and their beauty: the way it all gone to James Gleick, author of Chaos; Hugh 8 Section Awards fits together so it all comes out right in the Whitemore for the play Breaking the Code; Ivars end." for Distinguished Peterson, author of several books and associate Teaching Gardner graduated Phi Beta Kappa in phi­ editor of Science News; and Joel Schneider, losophy from the University of Chicago in content director for the Children's Television 10 Personal Opinion 1936, and then pursued graduate work in the Workshop's Square One TV. philosophy of science. In 1941, he enlisted in 12 Stroik Centenary Recognition and Rewards in the Mathematical Sciences Lecture Allyn Jackson But today the debate is taking on added urgency as colleges and universities struggle to respond This article was also published in Noticesofthe 16 Networks in American Mathematical Society, May/June to increasing demands from government and 1994,andappearshereinslightlydifferentform. the general public. A number of reports, most FOCUS notably Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities How can mathematical sciences departments of the Professoriate, by Ernest Boyer, have 20 MAA Gopher evaluate and reward the full range of faculty explored the question of what constitutes schol­ activities? How can teaching be evaluated? arship and what the appropriate balance is What constitutes "scholarship"? How should between teaching and research. 22 1993 Annual service to one's institution or to the profession The mathematical sciences community has at­ Report be rewarded? How should departments bal­ ance research, teaching, service, and tempted to take the lead in examining these scholarship in making decisions about pro­ issues. The Committee on Professional Recog­ motions, tenure, and salary increases? nition and Rewards of the Joint Policy Board 39 Employment for Mathematics was established in 1991 to Opportunities Such questions have long been the subject of examine the rewards systems currently in place debate within the mathematical sciences com­ munity and within academia more generally. Please see Rewards on page 3 The Matbematk:81 JUS Places First in 35th International Mathematical Olympiad AaodIItioa ofAmerIca 1529Eipteeoth Street, NW and Makes History with Six Perfect Scores. Washington, DC 20036 More details in the October FOCUS. FOCUS August 1994 FOCUS Editorial FOCUS is published by The Mathematical Association of America, 1529 Eighteenth The Report on the Recognition and Rewards in the Mathematical Sciences from the Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20036­ Committee on Professional Recognition and Rewards of the Joint Policy Board for 1385,six times a year: February,April,June, Mathematics started landing on the desks ofmathematics department chairs in late May August, October, and December. and early June. [See the article on the front page.] It is sure to set off considerable Editor and Chair of the MAA Newsletter discussion in the mathematics community. I am certain that photocopies of various Editorial Committee: KeithJ. Devlin, Saint sections will find their way onto the desks ofdeans and college presidents as mathema­ Mary's College of California ticians try to foster change in the way they do business. Associate Editor: DonaldJ.Albers,MAA One of most hotly debated items is likely to be the means used to evaluate college and Associate Executive Director, and Director of Publications and Programs university teaching. This is, of course, hardly a new issue, but the new report will undoubtedly rekindle the fire. Managing Editor: Harry Waldman, MAA I confess that the longer I have been in the business of academic administration (first at Production Specialist: Amy Stephenson, department chairlevel, now as a dean), the less happy I am about the way this is currently MAA done at most institutions. Proofreader: Meredith Zimmerman, MAA Maybe I should start by backing up a bit. The early part ofmy careerwas spent in Britain, where there were no institutionalized student evaluations of teaching. As a fairly fre­ Copy Editor: Nancy Wilson, Saint Mary's quent visitor to the USA, often for periods of one or two semesters at a time, where I College of California would teach one or two courses at a time, I went through the familiar end-of-semester Letters to the editor should be addressed to: student evaluation process, and found it extremely useful. Keith Devlin, Saint Mary's College of California, P.O. Box 3517, Moraga, CA As a visitor, my career in no way depended on the results, but the process was neverthe­ 94575, e-mail: [email protected] less stressful. It is virtually impossible to please all of the people all ofthe time, and so The FOCUS subscription price to individual I would brace myselffor the almost inevitable complaints, and just pray that they were members of the Association is $6.00, few in number. included in the annual dues. (Annual dues But for all that the process was stressful, I found it very useful, and I am sure that the for regular members, exclusive of annual subscription prices for MAA journals, are feedback I received contributed greatly to better teaching on my part-and I should say $68.00. Student and unemployed members that in the traditional teaching versus research debate, I have always come down firmly receive a 66 percent discount; emeritus in the middle, regarding both activities as important and enjoyable (and, for that matter, members receive a 50 percent discount; new mutually supportive, though in different ways for the two directions). Student evalua­ members receive a 40 percent discount for tions ofteaching are, I am sure, a valuable tool for the instructor. When I returned to the the first two membership years.) UK after my first spell at a US university, I imported the student evaluation procedure Copyright © 1994 by The Mathematical for my own use to gain feedback on my teaching. Association of America (Incorporated). Educational institutions may reproduce The question is, how valuable are student evaluations in terms of judging teaching articles for their own use, but not for sale, performance as part of the faculty evaluation process? In my view, this question does provided that the following citation is used: not have a simple answer. "Reprinted with permission of FOCUS, the newsletter ofThe Mathematical Association Having had experience reading evaluations as a chair, a dean, and a member ofa tenure of America (Incorporated)." committee, I have no doubt that, when read in an appropriate manner, the forms can provide valuable information. (All the evaluation forms I have had to deal with have Second-class postage paid at Washington, provided both statistical information and individual student comments, and it was the DC and additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to the combination of the two kinds of information that seemed useful. Statistical data on its Membership and Subscriptions De­ own would strike me as being extremely uninformative.) partment, The Mathematical Association of However, if student evaluations were the only source of information, I would be very America, 1529Eighteenth Street Northwest, Washington, DC 20036-1385. uncertain as to how much weight to attach to them. They present a very one-sided view. Moreover, they are written by individuals who, by definition, are not in a position to ISSN: 0731-2040 evaluate many important aspects of teaching, such as does the course cover the really Printed in the United States of America. important topics, is it correct, is it up-to-date, is the standard comparable to that at Printed on recycled paper. similar institutions? It is in conjunction with a number of other evaluative mechanisms that the student evaluations help form a reasonably all-round picture. Equally important are peer evalu­ ations (which, to ensure fairness, should be carried out not by a single individual but by groups of two or three faculty, one or more of whom should be chosen by the person being reviewed). Experienced colleagues can see important components of good (or @------------poor) teaching that a student could not. August 1994 FOCUS well its faculty, its institution, and its con­ eral consensus about the importance of Rewardsfrom page 1 stituents. The guidelines could also be used research, most faculty would like to see a in mathematical sciences departments and in negotiations between departments and broader and more flexible rewards struc­ to formulate guidelines to assist depart­ administrations