An Introductory Research Experience in Mathematics for Undergraduates

Abstract

This paper offers a strategic initiative designed to boost the level of collaborative mathematical research involving undergraduate mathematics students at Butler University. It describes goals, program design, logistics, and outcomes for an 8-day intensive summer experience in which undergraduate mathematics majors engaged in original mathematical research at an introductory level.     

Safety in unpredictable complex systems – a framework for the analysis of safety derived from the nuclear power industry

The increasing complexity and power of our technologies compels us to find new ways in which to conceptualise, understand and maintain their safety in the long term. Some complex technological industries have performed better than others in terms of applying sustained and systematic approaches to the maintenance of safety. The United States nuclear power industry can be seen as an ideal test-bed for the development of safety initiatives, being responsible for the control of potentially unpredictable technology that involves extraordinary forces and costs. This paper describes and formalises a framework for better understanding the safety of complex socio-technological systems, based on key events in the development of safety in the United States nuclear power industry. The framework comprises two components: (1) a state-space approach for better conceptualising system failures, the benefits of incident reporting and remedial safety initiatives; and (2) a set of milestones that can be used to assess the development of safety in socio-technological industries. Healthcare and the United States nuclear power industry both represent complex socio-technological systems with similar technical characteristics. However, safety strategies in healthcare have not kept pace with the increasing complexity of clinical practice, and there have been international calls for improvements in patient safety. The framework is applied to the analysis of safety in healthcare, demonstrating its utility as an alternative safety analogy in healthcare. Use of the framework indicates substantial scope for improvements in healthcare safety through major evidence-based system redesign. By lowering the threshold for the reporting of incident data to include accident precursors, it is possible to identify problem areas before patient harm occurs.     

Understanding the Lived Experiences of University Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): A Phenomenological Study

This study sought to describe factors impacting the success of students with ASD in university programmes. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather both the students’ personal perspectives of their university experience and the perspectives of a significant person in their life. An interpretative phenomenological approach was utilised to ascertain common factors that contributed or posed a barrier to students experiencing success in their studies. Findings revealed that students with ASD felt their internal influences of determination, perseverance and passion in their areas of academic interests, greatly impacted on their ability to achieve successful outcomes in university, but these factors were always mitigated by the degree to which they experienced anxiety, depression and isolation. Participants also highlighted the importance of mediating factors in helping them to manage their social–emotional needs so they could pursue their interests and achieve success in university programmes.