Page 6 - Eureka-2013

PrOfEssOr thE CEntrE fOr QuAntitAtivE AnAlysis AnD
vlAstiMil DlAB DECisiOn suPPOrt
The Centre for Quantitative
Vlastimil Dlab still remembers his job
interview with Carleton, which took Analysis and Decision
Mathematics and Statistics
place in December of 1968. Since then, Support officially opened
the Distinguished Research Professor its doors in early 2013,
has been instrumental in putting and connects students and
the School of Mathematics and faculty with clients to help
Statistics on the map – as a professor solve real-world problems.
and as chair of the Department of It also brings Carleton’s
Mathematics and Statistics in its School of Mathematics
early days. and Statistics out to the
“It was a time when there were no community.
committees, so chairmen were usually Patrick Boily, the centre’s
asked by the dean,” Dlab says. “This manager, said it has already
was my case in 1971. I was asked to taken on various clients
take over the department, so I built a in the public and private
modern department – which I think sectors. “The centre provides
we succeeded at.” While working as opportunities for students
the chair, Dlab helped Carleton get to identify a problem that a Patrick Boily
involved in international conferences group wants an answer to,”
– which included establishing the Boily says. “We use math to
first International Conferences on help clients out, and it provides students with experience.”
Representations of Algebras in 1974. For example, the centre recently helped the United Way project fundraising
“It’s a well-established meeting that’s numbers in certain regions of Canada that were hit particularly hard economically.
held all over the world,” says Dlab. “And With help from graduate students and select undergraduate students, Boily expects
it started right here at Carleton.” the centre to continue to grow. “As a university, clients can come to us and we’ll help
He became a Distinguished Research them solve their problems,” he says.
Professor upon retiring in 1998, and carleton.ca/cqads
frequently travels to universities
around the world to give lectures and
collaborate on his research in Algebra.
people.math.carleton.ca/~vdlab

innOvAtiOn in thE ClAssrOOM Kevin Cheung, a professor in Cheung has also created
the School, is leading the way an app where students can
in how classes are taught ask questions as he delivers
online. He creates five- to a lecture in real time. “I
ten-minute videos on his think on YouTube and social
YouTube channel that allow media there’s a degree of
students to go back and anonymity, so it’s easier
check certain points from a for some people to post
lecture. questions,” he says.
Last fall, he was one of Cheung believes there
ten educators from Canada, are a few teaching styles
the US, the UK, Ireland, New that professors could adapt
Zealand and Australia chosen in the future. They could
to compete in YouTube’s teach the traditional way,
Next EDU Guru competition. teach entirely online, or
The group was flown to use a combination of both
YouTube’s headquarters styles, which he calls “the
in San Bruno, California, flipped classroom model.”
and underwent a training The model means professors
session to learn more about would teach online, but
Kevin Cheung
making educational videos also have in-class time for
for YouTube. At the end of the students to ask questions in
session, one finalist was to person. “Online learning is
be named winner of the Khan really picking up speed.”
Academy Prize. That honour people.math.carleton.
went to Professor Cheung. ca/~kcheung

6 Summer 2013