How to Earn Mathematics Cultural Participation Points

(a.k.a. cults)

In order to be awarded cults for a particular activity, a student must submit a brief, approximately one page, write-up addressing the following topics: 

• A description of the activity and a summary of what the student’s participation entailed (e.g., for a talk this would include a summary of the details of the talk; for a solved problem, this would mean a complete solution to the problem).

• For an activity (e.g. a colloquium presentation), a description of how the specific activity deepened their understanding/appreciation of mathematics, in particular if it connected to their current course material. 

The better the write-up, the more cults awarded.  In grading the cults, you will not receive the full cults score if you do not have proper spelling and grammar in your write-up.  If anything is misspelled or if there is at least one instance of improper grammar, you will not receive the full cults score.  If another one of your professors is awarding cults, a student may use the same activity to earn cults in more than one class.  However, the number of cults a particular assignment will earn is completely up to the professor who receives it.  In other words, the same assignment may earn a different number of cults, depending on the professor who grades it.

Cults will be awarded for the following activities.  A maximum number is listed parenthetically after the activity.  In the following descriptions, coherence of the write-ups, non-trivialness of solutions, and approval of the articles is solely at my discretion and should be obtained by the date given in the class syllabus.

• Submitting a non-trivial solution to a new PotM or a new Problem Solving Competition problem (+2 cults)

• Participating in the Virginia Tech Regional Math Competition [only available during the fall semester] (+2 cults)

• Participating in the ACM Programming Contest [only available during the fall semester] (+3 points)

• Participating in the COMAP Mathematical Modeling Competition [only available during the spring semester, training usually starts in the fall semester] (+6 cults)

• Attending an LU or HSC Math/CS colloquium (+2 cults)

• Attending an MAA regional conference (+3 cults)

• Submitting a non-trivial solution to a new problem in a math journal (+3 - 4 cults)

• Presenting a poster at a mathematics conference (+5 cults)

• Giving a talk at a mathematics conference (+5 cults)

• Presenting the contents of an approved mathematics article in a journal (+3 - 4 cults, depending on the journal and the quality of the presentation; e.g., Math Horizons or CHANCE Magazine: 3 cults; College Math Journal or Mathematics Magazine: 4 cults).   The presentation should be a minimum of 20 minutes and demonstrate the student's understanding of the contents of the article.