The Fall Seminar: The problems are chosen to illustrate clever proofs using only high school mathematics; they are drawn from the LMMC and Math Challenge exams, problem-solving books, and problems taken from the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition.  Starting in the Fall 2005 semester, problem solving in computer science will also be incorporated into the problem sets. No matter what your background, you can find a flavor of problem solving that suits your interests;  everyone is welcome to join us for problem solving this semester.

     The Spring Seminar: A collection of topics will be chosen and studied in-depth for the semester.  Problems are taken from the William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition, articles and posed problems from the American Mathematical Monthly, problem-solving books, among many other sources.  Unlike the Fall seminar, the topics and problem sets are not chosen to develop elementary problem solving skills.  We will examine clever solutions to classical problems, with special emphasis on topics not present in textbooks, in an attempt to illustrate the circumstances where a clever insight or unusual construction yields comparatively easy or unexpected solutions. 

Fall 2005 Seminar Schedule:

Spring 2006 Seminar Schedule:

Meetings:  The Spring 2006 Problem-solving Seminar will meet from Noon - 1pm in Palenske 221 (adjacent to the math lounge lounge) every Tuesday (presentation) and Thursday (problem-solving).

Seminar Archive and Miscellany:

You can download a free copy of Adobe Acrobat Reader at this website.  An archive of presentation material for this seminar can be found here (soon).  Click here for a list of sources cited and additional reading material; sources for each problem will be revealed at the end of the semester (soon).

Competitions:

    Students of the Albion College Mathematics and Computer Science Department regularly participate in any of the following four annual mathematics competitions.  This seminar is designed in part to assist students in preparing for these competitions.

    - The Michigan Autumn Take-Home Challenge is a competition where teams of three work together on a problem set of ten problems.  The MATH Challenge usually takes place in the first week of November each fall and teams from all over Michigan (and several other states) compete in it.  The test is administered on campus and is proctored by a faculty member.  Teams from Albion took 4th and 11th places in this year's competition. -- contact Mark Bollman if you're interested in participating next fall.

    - The William Lowell Putnam Mathematical Competition is often described as the world's toughest mathematics test; the problems on the Putnam do not usually require advanced knowledge of material, but more often require clever proofs using elementary math.  Students from the United States and Canada attack problems individually and receive individual scores.  Albion College chooses a team of three students' scores to represent the school in the team rankings.  All students take the test individually, regardless of whether or not you're designated as a "team member."  Like the MATH Challenge, the Putnam is administered on campus under the proctorship of a faculty member.  Albion college students have recently ranked individually in the top 1/4 of contestants in this exam, where the median score in recent years has been 0-2 out of 120 points possible.  See the link below to find more information.  The Putnam takes 6 hours of testing on the first Saturday in December (what else would you be doing? It's freezing out...) -- contact Mark Bollman if you're interested in participating. 

    - The Mathematics Contest in Modeling is a true team competition where a group of students work on an applied project in mathematical modeling.  In early February, students are given a physical scenario described vaguely and are expected to spend several days researching and modeling the process.  Students then submit a typed paper by mail. For more information about the MCM, contact Darren Mason.

    - The Lower Michigan Mathematics Competition is held in April, and is the only  traveling mathematics exam that Albion College students participate in.  Each year, teams from colleges and universities across Michigan gather at a designated host institution to take the exam.  Albion College held first place in 2004, and took second place at the 2005 competition.  Get in touch with Mark Bollman to find out about next spring's LMMC!