Defining "space" disambiguously.

Participating in one of the exhibits at the Science Alive Event this past Saturday was a great experience and my sincere thanks to Dr. Amanda Serenevy, Director of the River Bend Math Center, for allowing us the opportunity to share a few of the basic concepts of topology with the community. I particularly enjoyed interacting with the children and teenagers; watching their facial expressions change as their interest and understanding of these basic concepts increased. Prior to the exhibit, I myself was not familiar with the theory of topology, but after some quick research, learned that it is a mathematical concept involving geometry and defining space...who knew?!

By using topology puzzles provided by both Dr. Amanda Serenevy and Dr. Dean Serenevy (Mathematician), I was able to help children conceptualize some of the mathematical properties of natural space and the knot theory—and make it fun!! The first time I met Dr. Amanda Serenevy was when she visited our statistics class (on campus) and demonstrated one of her topology puzzles. I was immediately intrigued with her ‘three-dimensional’ approach and wanted to learn more about her program at the River Bend Math Center.

One of my future goals is to evaluate various elements of core curriculum (e.g. Math, Science) within school systems that reflect consistent disparities in students’ academic performance to identify factors contributing to these discrepancies and find solutions that will allow students excel to their highest potentials. I have confidence that by implementing innovative techniques—such as the ones demonstrated by Dr. Serenevy in core subjects will allow educators facilitate a broader spectrum of learning styles within the student population.