Kickoff Workshop for Project MOSAIC

Project MOSAIC is a community of educators working to develop a new way to introduce mathematics to students in colleges and universities. The goal of Project MOSAIC is to create a broader approach to quantitative studies that provides better support for work in science and technology. The focus of the project is to tie together better diverse aspects of quantitative work that students in science, technology, and engineering will need in their professional lives, but which are today usually taught in isolation, if at all.

Modeling. The ability to create useful and informative mathematical representations of a real-world situations.

Statistics. The analysis of variability that draws on our ability to quantify uncertainty and to draw logical inferences from observations and experiment.

Computation. The capacity to manage effectively the revolutionary new capabilities in calculation and the organization, collection, and communication of data introduced in the last few decades.

Calculus. The traditional mathematical entry point for college and university students and a subject that still has the potential to provide important insights to today's students.

The name MOSAIC reflects the first letters — M, S, C, C — of these important components of a quantitative education. Project MOSAIC is motivated by a vision of quantitative education as a mosaic where the basic materials come together to form a complete and compelling picture.

Project MOSAIC's first event is a Kick-Off Workshop, sponsored by the Institute for Mathematics and its Applications. The workshop which will be held from Wednesday, June 30, through Friday, July 2, provides an opportunity to present some curricular innovations that have already developed, to discuss the overall organization of a curriculum that would be effective at unifying the MSCC subjects, and to establish strategic plans for Project MOSAIC.