Professional Experience and Interests, Steve Wilson

Professional Experience and Interests

A short history

I earned both my bachelor and master degrees from the University of Chicago, in mathematics and mathematics education, respectively. I taught eight years at the junior high and high school levels in Illinois, California, and South Carolina. I have also taught at both Francis Marion College and Florence-Darlington Technical College, in South Carolina. I joined the faculty at Johnson County Community College in 1991.

Teaching assignments

Teaching is the primary activity of professors at JCCC. Courses I have taught at this institution include:

Math 111: Fundamentals of Math
Math 115: Introduction to Algebra
Math 116: Intermediate Algebra
Math 118: Geometry
Math 120: Business Math
Math 171: College Algebra
Math 172: Trigonometry
Math 173: Precalculus
Math 175: Discrete Math

Math 181: Statistics
Math 191: Math & Physics for Games I
Math 231: Business and Applied Calculus I
Math 232: Business and Applied Calculus II
Math 241: Calculus I
Math 242: Calculus II
Math 244: Differential Equations
Math 285: Statistics for Business

Mathematical interests

My interests in mathematics may not be at the cutting edge, but the excitement of the chase is still enjoyable, even if someone else obtained the prize two hundred years ago. Here are my favorite topics:

Analytic geometry - especially the study of curves in the plane.
Probability - especially challenging discrete probability problems.

Publications

Business Math: Using Percents - a textbook published by Kendall/Hunt, 2001, 2nd edition in 2006.
Can Core Components in Mathematics Courses Replace Comprehensive Common Course Finals? - a paper coauthored with Julia Duckwall, published by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Higher Education, Dec. 1996.

Recent presentations

A Dual Credit Program in College Algebra - with Mary Deas, at the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges conference (Minneapolis, Minnesota, Nov. 2007).
Math and Physics for Video Game Developers - with Doug Patterson, at the Kansas City Regional Mathematics Technology Expo (Kansas City, Missouri, Oct. 2007).
Dynamic Web Tools - with Mike Martin, at the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges conference (Cincinnati, Ohio, Nov. 2006).
Business Math: A Pedagogical Odyssey - at the Kansas City Regional Mathematics Technology Expo (Kansas City, Missouri, Sept. 2006).
Quartic Plane Curves and the Method of Ferrari - at the University of Missouri at Kansas City Expository Talk Series (Kansas City, Missouri, Feb. 2006).
Dynamic Web Tools for Trigonometry - at the American Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges conference (San Diego, California, Nov. 2005), at the Kansas Mathematics Association of Two Year Colleges conference (Wichita, Kansas, Sept. 2006), at the Nebraska Mathematical Association of Two Year Colleges conference (Hastings, Nebraska, Apr. 2007), and at the International Conference on Technology in Mathematics Teaching (Hradec Kralove, Czech Republic, July 2007).
Exploring Quartic Plane Curves with Excel - at the Kansas City Regional Mathematics Technology Expo (Kansas City, Missouri, Oct. 2005), at the International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics (Orlando, Florida, Mar. 2006), and at the Kansas Mathematical Association of America conference (Wichita, Kansas, Mar. 2007).
Dynamic Web Tools for Exploration, Modeling, and Assessment - with Mike Martin, at the Kansas City Regional Mathematics Technology Expo (Kansas City, Missouri, Oct. 2005).
Dynamic Web Tools for Undergraduate Mathematics - with Mike Martin, at the International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics (New Orleans, Louisiana, Oct. 2004) [Recipient, 2004 ICTCM Award for Excellence and Innovation with the Use of Technology in Collegiate Mathematics], at the JCCC Voices Conference (Jan. 2005), and at the Kansas Mathematical Association of America conference (Lawrence, Kansas, March 2005).
A Bare Bones Guide to Beginning webMathematica - at the JCCC Math Department Colloquium (Sept. 2002), and with Mike Martin at the joint Missouri and Kansas Mathematical Associations of Two-Year Colleges conference (Overland Park, Kansas, March 2003), and at the Greater Kansas City Mathematics Technology Expo (Kansas City, Missouri, Oct. 2003).
Self-Paced Math at JCCC - at the Missouri Mathematical Association of Two-Year Colleges conference (Lake Ozark, Missouri, April 2002).
Random Drug Testing and Logistic Population Models - at the JCCC Math Department Colloquium (March 1998).
The Homeschooling Experience: Some Facts and Issues - at the JCCC Math Department Colloquium (Nov. 1997).
Non-Linear Regression Techniques May Not Produce Best Fit Curves! - at the JCCC Math Department Colloquium (Feb. 1996), at the Kansas Mathematical Association of America conference (McPherson, Kansas, April 1996), and at the Greater Kansas City Mathematics Technology Expo (Kansas City, Kansas, Oct. 1996).
Can Core Components in Mathematics Courses Replace Comprehensive Common Course Finals? - with Julia Duckwall, at the MidAmerica Association for Institutional Research conference (Des Moines, Iowa, Oct. 1995), and at the Association for Institutional Research Forum (Albuquerque, New Mexico, May 1996).
Is Graphing with a Calculator Too Easy? Try Writing Equations from Graphs! - at the Greater Kansas City Mathematics Technology Expo (Kansas City, Kansas, Oct. 1995).
The Use of Technology: When Is it Appropriate? - at the Greater Kansas City Mathematics Technology Expo (Kansas City, Kansas, Oct. 1994).
Annuities: More Than a Set of Formulas - at the JCCC Math Department Colloquium (Sep. 1993), and at the Kansas Association of Teachers of Mathematics conference (Wichita, Kansas, Oct. 1993).
Thirty Four Flavors of Cubic Plane Curves - at the Kansas Association of Teachers of Mathematics conference (Overland Park, Kansas, Nov. 1992), and at the JCCC Math Department Colloquium (March 1993).