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 this means. A comps project may 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significant, real-world settings, typically with an industrial, governmental, or non-profit partner; to study original historical documents; to gain experience writing and speaking about mathematics; or to engage in pedagogical research. Specific projects will vary from year to year, but we aim for topics covering a range of mathematical and statistical disciplines. Group comps run for two consecutive terms and culminate in both a public presentation of the results and a paper/poster or some other final product submitted to the faculty.

Students will work with other students and are supervised by a single faculty member. Students should expect regular group meetings with the advisor (1-3 meetings per week is typical), regular meetings of the group without the advisor, and additional time spent working alone. Comps should be a top academic priority; faculty expect to see a 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 assigned math group comps will register for either six credits of Math 399 in the first term followed by three credits of Math 400 in the second term, or three credits of Math 400 in the first term followed by three credits of Math 400 in the second term, as specified in the project description. Students assigned stats group comps will register for either six credits of Stat 399 in the first term followed by three credits of Stat 400 in the second term, or three credits of Stat 400 in the first term followed by three credits of Stat 400 in the second term, as specified in the project description.

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; faculty may make adjustments to this schedule as needed, except for the date of the public talk and final product deadline.

• 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.

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. Grades and distinction are assigned to each student, not each project.

Independent Comps

This comps experience is designed for students who have a compelling reason to prefer an individual reading and exposition project to a faculty-supervised group project. It is intended to be an exercise in independent learning of mathematics and does not include meetings with a faculty supervisor. Students wishing to choose independent comps will need to provide the department with a proposal for a specific topic and selected readings to be mastered. The selected readings may include selections from a book or articles from a journal. If approved, faculty may choose to refine the prompt or selected reading list. 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 twenty-five-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 have a conversation with the student after the final paper has been submitted to assess their depth of understanding. A committee of two or three faculty members will meet with the student to discuss the student’s work after the public lecture and paper submission to assess the student’s depth of understanding. The student will receive feedback during this discussion.

As in group comps, a student who completes an independent comps 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 mathematics and statistics majors earn one-half of a talk-credit for attendance at an independent comps public 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.
• The final version of your paper is due by noon on Monday of week 9 for assessment.
• Meet with your faculty committee, typically during week 9.