Mathematics and Statistics Assessment

The assessment process begins with the University, College, and Departmental mission statements, and includes the development of program educational objectives and desired student learning outcomes, collection of student data and work samples, preparation of detailed assessment documents, evaluation of the collected data, and a feedback loop that produces continuous improvement.

Departmental Mission

The mission of the Department of Mathematics and Statistics is to provide a high-quality program that enables students throughout the university to examine and appreciate the principal concepts of mathematics and statistics and to utilize them effectively in applications. The program incorporates modeling, real-world data, classical and contemporary methods, and modern technology. The department offers majors and minors that are designed to prepare students for graduate study or for entering a profession. The curriculum also provides service courses to programs in all colleges. The department maintains a vital program of research and makes outreach courses available to the citizens of the region.

Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of his degree from the University of Tennessee at Martin with a major in mathematics, the graduate will be able to:

1. apply mathematical concepts and principles to perform numerical and symbolic computations;
2. use technology appropriately to investigate and solve mathematical and statistical problems;
3. write clear and precise proofs;
4. communicate effectively in both written and oral form; and
5. demonstrate the ability to read and learn mathematics and/or statistics independently.

Our Greatest Strength

Our greatest strength is the quality of the teaching and research done by our faculty, along with the success of our students. We have just a few graduates in mathematics each year, which means our undergraduate students get to know their professors very well and have the opportunity to be involved in research with them. Our graduates have gone on to earn masters and PhDs from schools such as University of Kentucky, SEMO, Mississippi State, UTK, Rice, and the University of Central Florida.

The following papers show examples of some of the published research done by our students working with their professors at UT Martin.

• J. DeVito, and R. DeYeso (student), “The classification of SU(2)2 biquotients of rank 3 Lie groups,” Topology and its Applications 198 (2016), 86–100. Available from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0166864115005118 (preprint)
• L. Kolitsch and M. Burnette (student), “ Interpreting the truncated pentagonal number theorem using partition pairs,” Electron.  J. Combin.  22 (2015), no. 2, Paper 2.55, 7 pp. 11P81.  Available from http://www.combinatorics.org/ojs/index.php/eljc/article/download/v22i2p55/pdf
• C. Kunkel and A. Martin (student), “Positive solutions to singular higher order boundary value problems on purely discrete time scales,” Communications in Applied Analysis 19 (2015), 553 – 564.
•  J. DeVito, R. DeYeso (student), M. Ruddy (student) and P. Wesner (student), “The classification and curvature of biquotients of the form Sp(3)//Sp(1)2”, Annals of Global Analysis and Geometry, 46 (2014), no. 4, 389–407. Available from http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10455-014-9430-4 (preprint)
• D. Butler-McCullough and J. van Zyl (student), “Predicting Graduation Success for Students at the University of Tennessee at Martin,” Proceedings for the National Symposium on Student Retention, 2014.
• C. DeHoet (student), C. Kunkel, and A. Martin (student),  “Positive solutions to singular third-order boundary value problems on purely discrete time scales”,  Involve 6 (2013), 113 – 126.
• C. Caldwell and Y. Xiong (student), “What is the smallest prime?” J. Int. Sequences, volume 15, article 12.9.7, 2012, pp. 1-14.  Available from https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/journals/JIS/VOL15/Caldwell1/cald5.pdf.
• C. Caldwell, A. Reddick (student), Y. Xiong (student) and W. Keller (Univ. Hamburg),  “The History of the Primality of One: A Selection of Sources”,  J. Int. Sequences, volume 15, article 12.9.8, (2012) pp. 1–40.  Available from https://cs.uwaterloo.ca/journals/JIS/VOL15/Caldwell2/cald6.html.
• A. Reddick (student) and Y. Xiong (student),  “The Search for One as a Prime Number: from Ancient Greece to Modern Times,” Furman Univ. Electronic J. Undergrad. Math. (2012)vol. 16, pp. 1-13.  Available from http://math.furman.edu/~mwoodard/fuejum/content/volume16.html.
• C. Cox (student) and C. Ramirez (student),  “Improving on the Range Rule of Thumb,” Rose-Hulman Undergrad. Math. J. (2012) vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 1-13.  Available from http://www.rose-hulman.edu/ mathjournal/archives/2012/vol13-n2/paper1/V13n2-1pd.pdf. 
• A. Brunner (student), C. Caldwell, D. Krywaruczenko (student) and C. Lownsdale (student),  “Generalizing Sierpiński numbers to base b,” New Aspects of Analytic Number Theory, Proceedings of RIMS, Kyoto University, Kyoto, October 27–29, 2008.  Surikaisekikenkyusho Kokyuroku 2009.  Kyoto University, Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Kyoto, (April 2009) 69–79.