The "Woods" Series was established
by a generous gift from the estate of J. James Woods. The goal of
the Woods bequest is to bring prominent mathematicians and
scientists to Butler University in order to speak on theories at
the frontier of their disciplines, as well as on related
technologies and other issues of public concern.
Keith
Devlin
The Symbol Barrier: Using Video Games to Overcome the Greatest
Obstacle to Good Mathematics Learning
Tuesday, Apr. 2nd, 2013 - 7:30 p.m., Reilly
Room
Dr. Keith Devlin is a mathematician at Stanford University in
California, a co-founder and Executive Director of the university's
H-STAR institute, a
co-founder of the Stanford Media X research network,
and a Senior Researcher at CSLI. He is a World
Economic Forum Fellow and a Fellow of the American Association for
the Advancement of Science. His current research is focused on the
use of different media to teach and communicate mathematics to
diverse audiences. He also works on the design of
information/reasoning systems for intelligence analysis. Other
research interests include: theory of information, models of
reasoning and communication, and mathematical cognition. He has
written 31 books and over 80 published research articles. Recipient
of the Peano Prize, the Pythagoras Prize, the Carl Sagan Award, and
the Communications Award of the Joint Policy Board for Mathematics.
In 2003, he was recognized by the California State Assembly for his
"innovative work and longtime service in the field of mathematics
and its relation to logic and linguistics." And he is "the
Math Guy" on National Public Radio
All Woods Lectures are free and open to the public - no
tickets are required.