FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sept. 7, 2007
Contact: Anika Mitchell Perkins
(662) 329-7124

MUW mathematics professors score big outside the classroom

COLUMBUS, Miss. – When she is not in the classroom teaching, Dr.
Dorothy A. Kerzel can be found grading exams during her spare time.

For the past nine years, the Mississippi University for Women professor
of mathematics and chair of the Department of Science and Mathematics,
has been a reader and a table leader, scoring the Advanced Placement
calculus exam.

“When you tell people that you are going to grade exams for a week,
they usually have a strange reaction to that,” she said. “Yes, we do
work an eight hour day for seven days straight—weekends included. But
it is a wonderful group of mathematics professionals gathered together
and there are great opportunities for professional interactions.”

Each year at several sites across the country, college and high school
instructors score the free response portion of the AP exams.

“For calculus alone, we scored over a quarter of a million exams
where the free response section is composed of six multi-part problems
that the students solve. The solution, including methodology and
communication, is scored. This includes expecting the student to clearly
and accurately write about the mathematics. Over 800 mathematics
professionals work for a full seven days straight to score the student
work.”

The last two years, Kerzel has served as a table leader, which involves
a moderate level of leadership and supervision over a group of 12 to 16
readers. This role includes two or three days at the beginning to assist
with the early stages of the scoring process.

Discussions about curriculum issues and teaching approaches are common,
she added. There are instructors from just about every state in the U.S.
and also from overseas.

“So, it is a very interesting and diverse group of individuals with
common interests of mathematics and teaching,” she said. “The people
and the professional growth are what keep me going back year after year.
I have made good friends and keep in touch throughout the year, not just
the week that we spend together each year.”

Kerzel said she is aware of other faculty members who participate in
this professional activity, two who are in her department.

Tess Creel, instructor in mathematics, has been a reader for two years
on the calculus exam, and Dr. Shaochen Yang, professor of mathematics,
was a reader on the statistics exam one year and has been doing the
calculus exam for three years.

Yang said, “The AP reading experience is truly unique. We have
intensive grading for seven days. We also get to meet educators in
mathematics and some other disciplines all over the world. We exchange
ideas, teaching methodologies and teaching philosophies over snacks and
meals.”

Kerzel scored in Louisville, Ky., this year after being in Fort
Collins, Colo., for eight years. Next year, she will go to Kansas City,
Mo.

“It is a valuable professional development experience and an
opportunity to give back to the discipline of mathematics,” she said.