Initiation to Mathematics 2012, Kerala
April 30, 2012 – May 12, 2012
(Conference/Workshop funded by NBHM, DAE, Govt. of India)
department
of Mathematics
Government
College, Ambalapuzha, Kerala
Brief
Report
Introduction
Initiation
to Mathematics is probably the longest ever workshop conducted by a
government/aided college in Kerala for undergraduate science
students. The enthusiasm towards this workshop was evident from the
large number of queries the organizers received from various
quarters. The Academic support and presence of the MTTS (another, in
fact the most, prestigious undergraduate student oriented national
level training programme in India) team members added more colour to
the workshop in every way.
Efforts
to publicize the workshop
As
a part of publicizing the event, large size multi colour posters
together with a set of frequently asked questions were sent to more
than 200 colleges/institutes in south India. A website was designed
(www.initmathkerala.e-lokam.com) and made live for communicating
programme related information to the stake holders. We also made the
announcements about the workshop available in the MTTS website, in
several local news dailies (Mathrubhumi,
Malayala Manorama etc.), and in the
news daily The Hindu.
An interview with the organizing secretary appeared in the Deccan
Chronicle news daily.
As
a result of the continuous effort of the organizing committee in
publicizing the event, we received about 170 applications even though
the announcements appeared only in the first week of March. In all
the universities in Kerala, classes end in March and the colleges
close for summer vacation. The applications were from around 70
institutions, affiliated to around 30 different universities in
India, mainly from south India. After processing the applications,
purely based on merit, a selection list of 51 students were prepared,
even though the maximum strength we could have allowed is 45. We sent
selection letters to all these 51 students, and 47 students finally
arrived for participating in the workshop. Expect a few of them, all
of them were from institutions/colleges different from the organizing
college.
Academic
Programme
The
academic programmes were conducted from April 30 to May 12 on all
days except on 6th
May (it being a Sunday). Sessions were conducted during 9 am to 5 pm
every day. There were 4 sessions every day ,each sessions lasting
for one hour and 30 minutes. Five resource persons participated in
the workshop giving lectures altogether in 48 sessions. The resource
persons were
-
Prof. S Kumaresan, University of Hyderabad
-
Prof. A J Jayanthan, Goa University
-
Dr. K S Subrahmanian Moosath, IIST,
Thiruvananthapuram
-
Dr. Vishnu Namboothiri K, Government College,
Ambalapuzha, Kerala
-
Dr. Jijo S, BJM Govt. College, Chavara, Kerala
Apart
from the resource persons, a few teachers from nearby colleges also
participated in the workshop helping the students during lecture
sessions.
Student
Feedback
We distributed the feedback form to the students
towards the end of the workshop. The questions included in the form
were related to the overall conduct of the workshop, accommodation /
hospitality we provided, assessment of students about themselves, and
their comments /criticism about each faculty who gave lectures. Most
of the suggestions were positive, and all the students appreciated
the efforts of the faculty as well as the organizing committee.
Accommodation/local
hospitality
Majority
of the students were offered accommodation by the organizing
committee. Students were accommodated in hostels close to the venue.
All the students were paid their actual journey expenses subject to
the Govt. of Kerala rules. The resource persons were also provided
accommodation/journey expenses as per Govt. of Kerala/Govt. of India
rules. A few participants were day scholars commuting every day from
their homes to the workshop venue.
Conclusion
We hope to conduct this programme in a yearly
basis benefitting students from South India, in particular from
Kerala whose number seems to be very less in higher Mathematics
compared to the students from other states in India. We also hope to
get the support from NBHM for the continuous conduct of such
programmes in the future too. The students participated in this
workshop are expected to perform well in their Mathematics career in
the coming years, and we hope that that alone can give a boost to the
very much existence of such programmes on a long term basis.
