{"id":9394,"date":"2021-05-12T13:44:21","date_gmt":"2021-05-12T17:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/notes.math.ca\/article\/cumc-conference-for-students-by-the-students\/"},"modified":"2021-05-27T15:57:20","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T19:57:20","slug":"cumc-conference-for-students-by-the-students","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/notes.math.ca\/fr\/article\/cumc-conference-for-students-by-the-students\/","title":{"rendered":"CUMC: Conference for Students by the Students"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Les Notes p\u00e9dagogiques pr\u00e9sentent des sujets math\u00e9matiques et des articles sur l’\u00e9ducation aux lecteurs de la SMC dans un format qui favorise les discussions sur diff\u00e9rents th\u00e8mes, dont la recherche, les activit\u00e9s les enjeux et les nouvelles d’int\u00e9r\u00eat pour les math\u00e9maticien.ne.s. Vos commentaires, suggestions et propositions sont les bienvenues.<\/i><\/p>

John McLoughlin,\u00a0<\/strong>University of New Brunswich (johngm@unb.ca<\/a>)<\/em>
Kseniya Garaschuk,\u00a0<\/strong>University of Fraser Valley (kseniya.garaschuk@ufv.ca<\/a>)<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Introduction<\/strong><\/h3>

The Canadian Undergraduate Mathematics Conference (CUMC) is an annual conference intended for undergraduate students of mathematics in universities across Canada. It is held each summer at a Canadian university and is organized by a local committee of undergraduate students at the host institution, with the support of the CMS Student Committee (Studc).<\/p>

Any student attending the CUMC can choose to give a short talk, usually 25 minutes long, or present a poster at a poster session. These talks typically make up the greater part of the event.<\/p>

In this article, we discuss what we consider to be the main benefits to students of participating in the CUMC. We also list actions that instructors can take to encourage their students to participate.<\/p>

We hope that university instructors who read this note will encourage their students to attend. At the same time, we hope that high school instructors will see the value in an academic conference just for students, and find inspiration to plan similar activities.<\/p>

Why have student conferences?<\/strong><\/h3>

A mathematics undergraduate\u2019s playground.<\/em><\/h4>

We love it when students play with their math. We hope they will take the tools we give them and tinker around with them for fun, finding new little discoveries suiting their own tastes. One of the rare things about the CUMC is that it provides a perfect framework for students to show off the little discoveries they make when they play – be they weird facts about Pascal\u2019s Triangle, neat ways to draw tessellations, obscure proofs of classical theorems, or unexpected connections with their heritage. The most important thing about a CUMC presentation is that it be something the student thinks is cool. The stunning lack of other<\/em> restrictions means that any of their fun math quirks is given time to shine.<\/p>

At the same time, giving a presentation is more than tinkering around. It is a chance to take an idea and craft it into your own finished piece. The academic conference setting furnishes an implicit set of norms and goals towards which to work. Starting from this baseline, the student can pick and choose which conventions to adopt and which to flout. (Would it be more instructive to abandon a correct argument in favor of a flawed one? Would a particular idea make more sense if the audience were made to interact with it? Would sharing a craft project with the audience help them better appreciate a beautiful object?) Through this decision-making process, they build up something creative, and uniquely theirs: a work of art in their personal style.<\/p>

Total ownership of a project.<\/em><\/h4>

As the presentations are not evaluated in any way, students are free of the usual constraint of having to guess an authority figure\u2019s expectations. This can give a real sense of power and control over one\u2019s engagement with the subject.<\/p>

In addition, this freedom can help a student figure out what<\/em> they like in the first place. As students decide what they might enjoy working on later in life, they may want to draw inspiration from work they\u2019ve been intensely interested in. A CUMC presentation is a good opportunity to feel out potential research or professional interests in a low-stakes setting.<\/p>

Moreover, other students\u2019 presentations are windows into what excites them<\/em>. An attendee gets introduced to new problems and applications they might not encounter in their classes. It\u2019s wonderful to see people present on something that they really enjoy, and this can remind jaded students of the many reasons to love and be excited by math.<\/p>

Undergraduate students are the target community.<\/em><\/h4>

Although the CUMC is a busy event complete with keynote lectures, a poster session, and workshops, it fundamentally remains a student event. Thus, whatever the level of an undergraduate student, they belong to the target audience: they are meant to understand what\u2019s going on, it\u2019s easier to feel like their questions are legitimate, and there is less pressure to fit in with some far more experienced group. In this way, the student gets to have a taste of what conferences are like while engaging with an environment designed to support them.<\/p>

The event also gives students the chance to network with other junior mathematicians from across Canada. They spend a few days immersed in the conference, getting to know other math students and finding a broader community than just their own university. They also might connect with someone sharing more of their interests than anyone in their own department.<\/p>

This sense of belonging to a community can also come from the nature of the conference as recurring every year. One can consult with older students who have attended the conference before, and after attending, one can advise younger students who are thinking of going. This can provide a cross-generational connection between math students.<\/p>

Finally, having something tangible that they\u2019ve created can help a student feel more connected to the mathematical community as a whole.<\/p>

Encouraging students to participate<\/strong><\/h3>

Tell students about the CUMC as early as possible.<\/em><\/h4>

It is easier to prepare a presentation when you have plenty of time and no need to rush. A longer period of time leading up to the conference also gives students the chance to talk about it with their peers and coordinate: groups of friends can travel together, and students who intend on giving talks can rehearse them together.<\/p>

Help students find presentation topics.<\/em><\/h4>

Selecting a suitable presentation topic can be difficult. This is perhaps especially true for first-time presenters, who may not know what a typical student talk is like. (Some titles and abstracts from previous years\u2019 conferences are available on the CUMC website, which might help students get a sense of the range of possibility.)<\/p>

Last summer, the second author helped organize a set of workshops to assist students in preparing talks for the CUMC. In a casual survey during the workshops, 18 students indicated that they might be interested in preparing a talk. In the end, 8 of them ended up speaking at the conference. Of the 10 students who did not give a presentation, 5 remarked in conversation that they were not presenting because they had not been able to settle on a presentation topic with which they were satisfied.<\/p>

If a student brings up a question or an idea to you and you think that it could be turned into a good presentation \u2013 encourage them to do so! It is also well-worth reminding students that almost anything mathematics-related can make for a great CUMC talk. This includes, but is certainly not limited to:<\/p>