SPECIAL INTERESTS

Here are a few links, all connected with some of my professional and personal interests. Others are included in my biography below.

Mathematics and Mathematics Education

----mathematics organizations and programs

Links to professional organizations (conferences, publications, membership, further related links, etc.):
International Commission on Mathematical Instruction (ICMI)
------ICMI on FaceBook
------ICME-11 in Mexico, July 6-13, 2008  (History of Mathematics Topic Study Group--TSG38) (Ethnomathematics Discussion Group--DG18)
------ICME-12 will be in Seoul, Korea, July 8-15, 2012. Topic Study Group 36 is "The Role of Ethnomathematics in Mathematics Education" (co-chairs: Lawrence Shirley and Pedro Palhares)
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
------Maryland Council of Teachers of Mathematics
Mathematical Association of America
Report of the National Mathematics Advisory Panel, March 2008 [press release]
Math is More A group looking for a coordinated effort to improve mathematics education nation-wide.
Association of Mathematics Teacher Educators
International Study Group on Ethnomathematics (North American Study Group on Ethnomathematics)
------Fourth International Conference on Ethnomathematics (at Towson, July 25-30, 2010)
------Journal of Mathematics and Culture
TODOS: Math for All
Bridges: Mathematical Connections in Art, Music, and Science
African Mathematical Union
------African Mathematical Union Commission on the History of Mathematics in Africa (AMUCHMA)
A collection of math blogs (with rankings)

Towson University mathematics education programs:
------Mathematics Department
------Bachelor of Science, Mathematics Major with Secondary Education Concentration
------Master of Science in Mathematics Education

Mathematics-related sites of the Maryland State Department of Education:
------general (press releases, publications, addresses, directory, etc)
------school improvement (state assessment program information)
------school performance reports
------Common Core Standards(webpage from MSDE with links)

----mathematics history and news

See MathWorld Headline News for recent developments in mathematics research.

A good source for information on history of mathematics and more than 2000 biographies of mathematicians, with related topics  Similarly, here is a collection of biographies of about 130 women mathematicians and this offers information on mathematicians of the African diaspora.
------------and also mathematicians of the day.

I have an Erdös number of 5.  I am a co-author with Amy Ksir, whose Erdös number is 4.

Convergence--a web magazine of mathematics, history, and teaching, from the MAA

----ethnomathematics and mathematics culture

The Ethnomathematics Digital Library.

A collection of ethnomathematics links from ISGEm

You can find words for one to ten in over 5000 languages(!) here.

RadicalMath looks at blending mathematics content and issues of social justice. Rethinking Schools looks more generally at bringing social issues in the classroom.  Similarly, the Algebra Project considers algebra and the opportunity to learn mathematics as civil rights.

Here is a growing file of examples of mathematical fiction of all types (novels, movies, tv, etc.), with some reviews from a mathematical point of view.

Mathematics Awareness Month comes every April. For 2012, the theme is "Mathematics, Statistics, and the Data Deluge (What would you do with all these data??)".

--three math/geek humor blogs: Spiked Math, Math-Fail, and GaussFacts

My presentations on "Numbers and Culture"  and "Number Words",  with some interesting number-related links

----mathematics content

Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics  is an excellent resource on mathematics content.

Interlinked proofs of fundamental mathematics: the Metamath Proof Explorer

Many useful formulae, mostly math but some chemistry and physics also.

Index of world units and measures (including mudu and tiya); more general index of all kinds of sizes; measurement units

This link has info and lists on Mersenne primes and perfect numbers (latest updates--none since April 2009: the 47th!).  Here are lists of primes, twin primes, etc.

This is a lot of pi--playing with the strings of the digits.  Here is an article with some mathematical background on strings of pi digits .  Pi has now been calculated to ten trillion decimal places (reported in October 2011).   This is a collection of long decimal expansions of several famous irrational numbers.  Here is a page of binary digit pi. AND: Here is a pi chant  MORE: Find strings of digits in pi.

Here's a way of visualizing BIG numbers by counting pennies. Also, be sure to follow some of the links at the end for terminology and more sense of BIG numbers.

powers of ten in real life

----teaching mathematics

The Eisenhower National Clearinghouse is a huge and growing collection of lesson ideas, documents, etc. on mathematics and science education (it is now a subscription site).

The link to the Math Forum@Drexel offers a rich search facility for more mathematics education resources, problems, homework help, etc.

A good collection of resource links--history, recreation, fun, etc.

This is a great collection of virtual manipulatives for various mathematics topics at all levels of K-12.

Two websites from the Smithsonian Institution on history of mathematics education: math teaching tools and teaching math and science in the Age of Sputnik  

These are two wide-ranging collection of links: Science Gems--Mathematics, from K-3 up through many topics at university-level and beyond, and Cool Math Sites

 Here are several pages aimed at kids, but interesting to mathematics teachers and others: manipula-math; math.com; figure-this; math goodies; "fun facts" of mathematics; cut-the-knot and CoolMath.

Here is Mathematically Sane, promoting rational reform of school mathematics, and a blog, Rational Mathematics Education
-------------------
My own work in mathematics education: teaching, scholarly activity, and ethnomathematics

...and my course webpages:
----MATH 204 Concepts of Mathematics for Teachers I
----MATH 323 Teaching Mathematics in Elementary School
----MATH 301/501 History of Mathematics
----MATH 428 Senior Seminar in Mathematics Education
----MATH 602 Cultural and Philosophical Background of Mathematics

Graduate Education  

Towson University's Graduate College
---Programs
---Program Directors
---Admission Application
---Catalog
---Thesis Guidelines
---Graduate Assistantships (application; openings;  FY2012 GA Request Form , Graduate Assistantship Handbook)
---Fellowships
---Graduate Faculty  ( list, application form )
---Alumni Association Grad Fellowship
---Commencement , Graduation Application
---Writing/Statistics/Research Help Center
---Graduate Studies Committee
---Graduate Students Association (calendar, travel/research grants )
---my administrative work in the Graduate College

Council of Graduate Schools

American Association of State Colleges and Universities

Maryland Higher Education Commission (Programs and Program Approvals)

University System of Maryland  (Academic Programs)

Carnegie classifications of universities

Boyer model of types of scholarship

the US Copyright Office

news from Inside Higher Education


Astronomy

Here is the astronomy picture of the day.

A trip from Earth (Mt Everest) to the edge of the known universe (video)

The World of Science (with sections on Astronomy, Physics, Chemistry, Math, and Scientific Biography).

Much information on the newly-named largest dwarf planet Eris (formerly 2003-UB-313) (from the discoverer's own website).  This is the object that is bigger than Pluto and pushed the debate that removed Pluto from the list of planets.

The Jet Propulsion Lab (JPL) page has news updates from current projects [Mars Rovers, Cassini-Huygens (at Saturn)]

NASA has reports on current and upcoming missions [ New Horizon(to Pluto)] and other space news (NASA TV online--if it is showing)

I am a member of the Planetary Society, whose link offers astronomical pictures and other resource materials on space.

This link goes to the Space Telescope Science Institute (in Baltimore), the home of the Hubble Telescope. It has information, news, activities, and pictures from Hubble.

Here is current information on comets.  Less current: Halley's Comet (get ready! it will be back in 2061!) Here is a 2003 photo of Halley, with more links.

Lunar phases for 1800 to 2199

...And this is a page on eclipses (maps, timetables, etc). Here is a world map of light pollution  and this is a world map of city lights

This allows you to get a picture of the Earth centered wherever you want or with other locational features.

Bad Astronomy debunks errors and myths, clarifies facts, and includes interesting notes.

This should be everything you need to know about the solar system and another general collection of astronomical information: the Electronic Sky

This provides a collection of models of the solar system.  On a bigger scale, here is a best-guess sketch of our galactic neighborhood and an Atlas of the Universe (actual locations--NOT an observational sky map; see the next items for that).

This is a great interactive sky map, including current locations of the sun, the moon (with correct phase), and planets--and with zoom capability. Photopic Sky Survey

And here is a guide to the night sky this week and related links.  Here is a collection of more online planetarium and sky map services, notably, Sky View Cafe .  Here is SkyTonight, a collection of news and observation information.

Here are basic almanac data

Time and date: a good resource for localizable data on time, calendar, time-zones,sun/moon, etc.

Africa and the World

"Ex Africa semper aliquid novi" (There is always something new from Africa)
                       ---Pliny the Elder (Rome, 23-79 CE)

Information about Africa: country info, politics, culture, food, African Studies, conferences, other Internet resources, K-12 materials, links to Africa, etc.

This is a good source of African news from AllAfrica.com.

Africa Action informs and lobbies on African issues.

Save Darfur: how you can help stop genocide

Here are some pages about Ghana (each with more links):  from Penn State African Studies; Ghanaian cooking; and adinkra.  Here is a dictionary of Ghanaian slang (Twi and English) (I had more links, but several have closed; I will look for replacements).  

Helping to get global education into K-12 classrooms: Global Education News

This goes to the Africa-America Institute  

The Partnership for Higher Education in Africa encourages support for African universities.  The webpage also has many useful links.  The Nigeria Higher Education Foundation, with help from a matching grant from the MacArthur Foundation, is supporting four universities in Nigeria: Ahmadu Bello, Ibadan, Bayero, and Port Harcourt.

The World Factbook has almanac-like data on all countries.

The public radio program from PRI, BBC, and WGBH: "The World"  and the public radio (PRI) environment program: "Living on Earth

WorldMapper--world maps with country areas proportional to measures of interest.
A world of one hundred people (video)

Here is a world map of population

How far is it? (distances and bearings between any two places in the world)

General physical information about the Earth:  Earth-at-a-Glance

Up-to-the-second changing estimates of many world statistics from Worldometers

I have visited such diverse places as Timbuktu, the top of Mt Kilimanjaro, Copacabana/Ipanema Beaches, the Ginza, the Alhambra, Budapest, Stratford-upon-Avon,  Bagdad (Arizona!), the Grand Canyon (most recently in August 2007), and the Sydney Opera House  In summer 2009, I visited China and saw the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, the terracotta warriors, Shanghai's Pudong, and other places.  In summer of 2010, Stonehenge was added to this list. 

This world map has the countries I have visited colored red

visited 28 states (12.4%)
Create your own visited map of The World

More of my personal Africa links.   Jeff & Lauren's Ghana travel (July-August 2005) blog

Culture

I often wear bola ties, reflecting my Arizona heritage.

I support National Public Radio, and in particular, I am a member of Your Public Radio, WYPR in Baltimore. These links have program info and links to news, features, and music.

The kid in me still likes the comics in the newspaper.  My favorites: Peanuts, Doonesbury, Mother Goose and Grimm, For Better or For Worse (FBoFW), Pearls before Swine, and Garfield. Here are old Calvin and Hobbs.

Here's some info on Beethoven. Here are all nine symphonies. (I observe his birthday on Dec 16).

Simon and Garfunkel lyrics

Here is a free on-line language translator (English/Spanish/French/Russian/German)

Common phrases in hundreds of languages

I am a member of Towson United Methodist Church, (TUMC) where I chaired the Worship Work Area committee 2002-07 and served as chair of the Parish-Staff Relations Committee 2009-10. I am currently a member of the Stewardship Committee. Here are "unbound Bible" (an online searchable Bible in various translations and languages) and a searchable online Qur'an. The Metanexus Institute is an organization devoted to advancing research, education and outreach on the constructive engagement of science and religion.  Here is the webpage of public radio's "On Being" program with Krista Tippett.  In Washington, I like to visit the National Cathedral. 

Peacemakers:Matthew 5:9 (Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God), Qur'an 49:10 (The believers are but brethren, therefore make peace between your brethren and be careful of (your duty to) Allah that mercy may be had on you.) , Peace Corps, the Carter Center, American Friends Service Committee

MY PAST

Roots, Family, and Education

I am originally from Arizona (see Arizona Highways), growing up in Flagstaff and Mesa. Arizona celebrated its centennial of statehood on February 14, 2012.  My father's family had moved from Virginia to South Carolina, Mississippi, Texas, and Arizona between the late 1700s and early 20th century.  The Shirley Association genealogical website shows my great-grandfather, Joseph Jonathan Shirley, and four generations before him.  My mother's family had lived in upstate New York for several generations (some genealogy references).  My ethnicity is mostly Anglo-Saxon from my father's side and a mixture of Anglo-Saxon, Dutch-German, and one-eighth Irish from my mother's side. My late wife, Alberta, was Akan (Akuapim) and Kyerepong (Guan) from her mother's side and Fante from her father's side. 

My late father, Robert Shirley, was a journalist, working at the Arizona Daily Sun (in Flagstaff) and then, for 27 years, as editor of the Mesa Tribune.  My mother, Shirley A Shirley, has been a homemaker, but also worked at the school store of Carson Junior High and volunteered at the Mesa Southwest Museum (now the Arizona Museum of Natural History) and, for over thirty years, at the Banner Mesa Medical Center until it closed in 2007.  Both of my parents served in the Army in Europe in World War II.

My brother, Don Shirley, is a free-lance writer (theatre, travel, etc.) in Los Angeles. He formerly wrote for the Theater section of the Los Angeles Times and was the theatre critic for the (now-closed) L.A. City Beat. He now blogs and edits for L.A. Stage Times. His wife, Ellen Switkes, led the storytelling program, Cornucopia, in Los Angeles.

Here is information on my late wife and our children.