WIndows and architecture camps introduce students to new ways of thinking about math

Though she retired as an associate professor of mathematics in 2020, Sue Mau can't help herself when presented with the challenge of stimulating student interest in the subject. It's why she continues as director of two Purdue University Fort Wayne summer camps, "The Great Windows Inspection" and "Architecture Initiative."

In conjunction with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Fort Wayne and sponsored by an Indiana Youth Programs on Campus grant from the Lilly Endowment, these camps are opportunities to let students in the sixth through 12th grades experience mathematical thinking in different ways.

"If one kid chooses to do this, it's been worth all the struggle, all the time, and all the energy," Mau said. "I'm hoping more than one kid chooses, but you never know. The kids are good kids. It's the challenge of it. Can I make this happen?"

Mau said she's using the world as her classroom, but still utilizes four walls, a ceiling, and a floor. During one of the architecture camp's first activities a few weeks ago, she took the 12 middle and high schoolers to Student Housing on the Waterfield Campus. They measured the dimensions of two apartments before drawing their discoveries to ¼-inch scale blueprints outside in the Cole Commons.

Students also built their dream houses to ½-inch scale, with Mau finding some miniature furniture templates for them to use. A few days later, the students went outside Kettler Hall to see what realistic dimensions would look like by placing stakes in the ground and connecting them with string. Last year, one girl told Mau she realized her bedroom wasn't large enough because she couldn't fit a queen-size bed inside.

The students also visited a Habitat for Humanity site to see houses in various stages of construction. Then the organization sent Mau 17 actual blueprints.

"I learned how long it takes to build a house," said Thad Knight, a senior at Concordia Lutheran High School. "I didn't think people would use 17 blueprints for one house."

One of Mau's favorite tactics for the windows camp is taking the students on a tour of Fort Wayne places of worship to study stained glass dimensions and designs. Usually, worship leaders or church officials tell students the history and meaning behind the windows and how they are repaired, if necessary.

Another favorite is Auburn's Eckhart Public Library, which was built in 1910, after the windows survived a devastating 2017 fire.

The goal is to help students understand spatial dynamics and proportions.

"My hope is that they develop some intuitive sense as they develop some spatial capabilities, which is really foundational to learning math," Mau said. "I would like for them to be able to go to college and study whatever they want, but if their math stinks, you know they're cut out of a whole lot of careers, a lot of high-paying careers. I'd really love for them to be able to walk onto this campus and be successful in the math classes and not be shoved into a major that wasn't their first choice because the math is out of their range."

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