High school students from across the globe will take to the Rose-Hulman campus for the six-week Ross Mathematics Program, beginning June 16. This is the third year Rose has hosted the prestigious program in which students are immersed in a world of mathematical discovery.

Ross Math Programs provide students with a focused and supportive environment for mathematical exploration. The programs help nurture mathematical curiosity and logical thinking in students to produce future leaders in the world. Rose-Hulman is among two national sites hosting the program this summer.

Sixty students from throughout the United States, Europe and countries including China and South Korea attend the Ross Math Program. The camp also brings 15 Ross counselors and staff to campus.

Timothy All, associate professor of mathematics, has been involved with Ross Mathematics Program since 2013. He’s been instrumental in bringing the summer program to Rose and sees the venture as a natural partnership between both the distinguished STEM program and institution.

All describes the Ross Program as a full immersion program—similar to a foreign language experience, but with mathematics. The days are organized around a series of daily problem sets in number theory. These sets invite the students to contemplate a variety of simple questions about numbers and their relationships. As the summer progresses, the students are encouraged to further investigate these mathematical areas. 

“This style of teaching is called Inquiry Based Learning,” said All. “It’s a very intense program and gets them to discover big ideas on their own. The students spend an hour each morning watching me lecture and then they’re released to collaborate with each other on the daily problem sets.”

Students carefully write up solutions to problems, which they submit to their counselor for feedback. Grades are not assigned; instead, counselors give them feedback on their ideas, logic and writing style. The program is completely mastery-based and self-paced.

“The message we want to convey is that that it’s depth and quality, not quantity,” said All. “We want students to master the concepts. So, it’s okay if it takes one student a day or two longer than their friends to complete the problem.” 

In addition to All, other Rose math faculty will participate in the Ross Program, as well as visiting faculty from other institutions. Rachel Petrik, assistant professor of mathematics, is leading a two-week course in machine learning. Tyler Billingsley, assistant professor of mathematics, will run a workshop on Lean, an open-source proof assistant. Kurt Bryan, professor emeritus of mathematics, will teach a short course in image compression.