Their friends slept late, worked and relaxed this summer ... but 13 incoming Penn State Abington freshmen willingly spent an intense six weeks on campus. The upside of reducing downtime? These students in math-intensive majors boosted their skills by enrolling in an innovative program developed at Abington.
Students were invited to interview for a seat in Mathematics Academic Prep (MAP), which is designed to fill knowledge gaps and reinforce concepts critical to engineering and science careers. Success in early math and physics courses is crucial to progressing academically, according to Mikhail Kagan, assistant professor of physics.
"If Penn State accepts a student, we take responsibility to ensure they are fully prepared for their major," Kagan, MAP co-developer and coordinator, said. "It is our moral obligation to make sure they can succeed."
The content covers the equivalent of nine college credits, but the MAP 13 enrolled knowing it wouldn't count toward a degree. The MAP program included elements of physics and computer science. The students took multiple tests, exams, and participated in a project known as the Beauty Contest. Students drew faces composed of quadratic curves and parts of parabolas and then voted on a winner.
"It's a mathematical trick to show mathematical consistency," said Kagan, a recipient of the University's Atherton award for excellence in teaching. "It demonstrates how to make sense of something from a mathematical perspective."