Fall 2025 Final Projects

We had a productive semester in Fall 2025, as it was our first semester implementing our project-based curriculum in mathematics courses at Trinity Washington University. Students chose their own projects based on topics of interest and were given significant freedom to take their projects in the directions they chose.

Our own lab member, Masai Oakes, applied the numerical methods taught in differential equations to the study of neurons, learning about voltage-gated ion channels in neurons and approximating the characteristic sigmoidal functions describing the relationship between gating variables and voltage using their derivatives. This project gave her a head start in picking up the background information in neuroscience for the work she will continue in the lab this semester.

We also saw some amazing results from students in the non-major introductory mathematics classes, as they applied what we learned about linear functions and linear regression to understand topics that are relevant to their everyday lives. One group compared social media usage for Gen Z users on TikTok and Snapchat, showing that while TikTok started after Snapchat, its user base grew at a rapid rate and eventually caught up to the number of users on Snapchat. This was an excellent demonstration of how the topics we learned in class apply to everyday life, as almost everyone in the class uses at least one of these social media platforms regularly.

Some students even chose topics that tackle important problems impacting their communities. For example, one student compared the impact of financial aid packages on graduation rates in different racial groups, finding that different types of financial aid had different effects on graduation rates that varied across racial groups.

When surveyed at the end of the course, students most frequently cited data analysis as the topic they remembered the most from the course. I speculate that particularly for those who are not majoring in mathematics, these projects allow them to develop a deeper understanding of the course material through its application to topics of particular interest and relevance to their own lives. I am looking forward to further analyzing the data from these courses and seeing the project topics that next semester's students come up with.

Note: These images are published with the permission of the pictured students.