Math and Stats Comps

Group Comps

The essence of group comps is a substantial, shared experience of doing mathematics or statistics. The faculty takes a very broad view of what, exactly, this means. We intend to offer opportunities for students: to engage in original research; to apply mathematics or statistics in significant, real-world settings, typically with an industrial, governmental, or non-profit partner; to study original historical documents; and to engage in pedagogical research. Specific projects will vary from year to year with topics limited only by the imaginations of our faculty and students. Group comps typically run for at least two terms. The default expectation is that each project culminates in both a public presentation of the results and a paper/poster or some other final product submitted to the faculty.

Students typically work in small groups supervised by a single faculty member. Students should expect regular group meetings with the advisor (once or twice weekly is typical), as well as other regular meetings with the group without the advisor, in addition to time spent working alone. Comps should be a top academic priority; faculty expect to see an intense commitment to the project from every student in the group. An individual may be awarded distinction in group comps for work exhibiting outstanding initiative and effort resulting in an exceptional level of some or all of the following: depth of understanding, creativity, synthesis, and effective communication.

Students completing group comps will register for three credits of comps (Math 400 or Stat 400) in each of the two terms they are completing their comps.

Junior and senior mathematics and statistics majors earn one talk-credit for attendance at an hour-long group comps project presentation.

Group Comps Timetable

Each spring, faculty members present potential group projects to mathematics and statistics majors during their junior year, and the junior majors rank the projects they prefer. Faculty then assign students to projects, taking student preferences into account as much as possible.

Once underway, a typical two-term project will follow the timetable below; three-term projects require adjustments.

• Term 1: Research, regular meetings, end-of-term evaluation
• Term 2: Research, regular meetings (weeks 1-4)
• Talk and paper preparation (weeks 5-7)
• Public talk (week 7)
• Final product due (Monday of week 8)

Evaluation

At the end of term one, to ensure adequate progress is being made by all, each student will complete a project evaluation including feedback on the work of all group members. At this point students not making adequate progress may be removed from a project and assigned, instead, an individual comps project.

At the end of the second term, your advisor may elect to conduct individual interviews to assess each comps student. The faculty advisor (and possibly other faculty) will determine a grade of pass or fail, and will make a recommendation on distinction to the department. (Note: Grades, including distinction, are assigned to each student, not each project.)

Independent Comps

This comps experience is designed for students who prefer an individual reading and exposition project to a group project of faculty-supervised research. It is intended to be an exercise in independent learning of mathematics or statistics. Students choosing this option will specify the area of mathematics or statistics in which they wish to work. Faculty will provide the student with a prompt describing a selection of reading material to be mastered. That prompt may contain, for example, selections from a book or articles from a mathematical or statistical journal. Students should be prepared to do any background reading necessary to obtain complete understanding of the material assigned in the prompt.

Students will give a thirty-minute public lecture and write an expository paper (15-20 pages long, not including appendices) on the content of their prompt. The student will recruit two other volunteer mathematics or statistics majors to observe and critique a practice lecture in advance of the public lecture. A committee of two or three faculty members will conduct an oral examination of the student after the public lecture and paper submission to assess their depth of understanding. The committee will then provide feedback on the paper and the student must submit a final version of the paper that addresses the feedback by the end of the final exam period.

As in group comps, an individual may be awarded distinction in comps for work exhibiting outstanding initiative and effort, resulting in an exceptional level of some or all of the following: depth of understanding, creativity, synthesis, and effective communication.

Students completing independent comps will register for six credits of comps (Math 400 or Stat 400) in either fall term or winter term. Independent comps is not available in spring term. For fall comps they will receive their prompt a few weeks before the start of the term. For winter comps they will receive their prompt at the end of fall term.

Junior and senior math-majors earn one-half of a talk-credit for attendance at a thirty-minute individual public comps talk.

Independent Comps Midpoint Check-in

Approximately midway through independent comps students will go through a check-in designed to keep them on track to successfully complete their project. For this check-in students will turn in the following materials on the Moodle site for independent comps.

1. A 1-2 page preliminary outline of their comps paper, including details about what they have accomplished so far and what they would like to accomplish by the end of the project. 
2. The first 4-5 preliminary slides for their comps presentation. These should include a title slide, a slide providing an outline of the final presentation, and 2-3 slides that provide motivation for and/or an introduction to the topic. 

Note that both items submitted are preliminary products: the final paper and presentation can be different from the materials students submit for the check-in.

Independent Comps Timetable

• Check-in materials due by 5 pm on Friday of week 4.
• Public talk during week 8.
• Your final paper is due by noon on Monday of week 9 for assessment. Your committee will not assess a final paper that is not in a complete, polished state. Work not meeting these standards will receive a failing comps grade.
• Meet with your faculty committee during week 9.
• Paper feedback will be provided to you by 5pm on Monday of week 10. Depending on your committee’s assessment of your paper, passing comps may be contingent on incorporating this feedback into your paper.
• Your revised paper is due by 5pm on the last day of the final exam period. Only required revisions will be reassessed by a committee.