Presentation 1

There are two possibilities for this project; we as a class will decide early on which possibility to go with:
1. Each group will pick one of the Millenium Prize problems, and research the problem. In some cases, the problem itself might be difficult enough that a lot of your research may be focused on determining what the question is asking, while in other cases you may be able to find out a lot of what has been tried, where the difficulties arise, etc. or
2. Each group will choose a general mathematical topic (and certainly the Millenium Prize problems would be possible topics, but I have a lot of other suggestions as well).

For the second presentation, you will discuss a topic from, or application of, Abstract Algebra that we have not discussed in class.

• Topic: Your group will jointly choose a topic, along the extreme broad guidelines given above (and perhaps more details to follow in class). Some sources for ideas:
  • Millenium Prize problems
  • Student Resources for Projects: This site has many suggestions, complete with links, for places to get ideas for math projects. Among other things, it has a link to the MAAs math columns, which come complete with archives of each column! This is an excellent source for a lot of ideas!
  • Math Digests: This site gives extremely short descriptions of mathematical articles in various journals over the last five years. It would be an great way to get alot of ideas quickly.
  • Look through books in the library by Keith Devlin, Ian Stewart, Ivars Peterson. And while you're in the library, browse the stacks. We have been buying a lot of "general interest" books for years now, and of course we also have a lot of books specifically on Abstract Algebra as well.
• Abstract: Your abstract should be a one paragraph description of your talk. It will be your advertisement to your classmates. In it, you'll want to give a brief idea of your topic, explain why it is interesting, and make people want to come to see your presentation. Be sure to give your talk an interesting title.
• Rough Draft: I would like you to give me a paper copy of your transparencies about three days before you will be giving your presentation. I will look them over that night, and we will meet the next day to discuss them. In order to have your transparencies done, you should of course have a not-very-rough draft done by then also.
• Presentation: Learning material, and then being able to present it to people who don't know very much about it, is a skill! It is not easy to decide what to leave in, and what to leave out. Remember to make your presentations comprehensible to your classmates, rather than trying to squeeze in every detail you learned to impress us!

Grading

You will be graded on the following aspects of your presentation:
• Preparation: Did you submit your topic, your abstract, and your transparencies on time? Did you put sufficient effort into your research? 10 points
• Presentation: Was your presenatation organized? Did you introduce the material or problem clearly? Did you have good examples (if called for)? Did you have transparencies when called for, and were they clear (uncluttered)? Did you present the material so that it is clear to us all that it is an interesting topic? Did you conclude your talk well? Was your talk of an appropriate length, and was it clear you had all worked together and practiced? 10 points
• Understanding: Was it clear that you all understood what you were talking about? 10 points