James T. Sandefur
Professor of Mathematics
Department of Mathematics
Georgetown University
37th and O St., NW
Washington, DC 20057
Office: (202) 687-6145
Fax:     (202) 687-6067
email:sandefur@georgetown.edu

I received my BA from Vanderbilt University, MA from University of Denver, and Ph.D. in Mathematics from Tulane University.  My interests are Discrete Dynamical Systems, Mathematical Modeling, and Mathematics Education at all levels.  I have written numerous articles on modeling and dynamical systems that are appropriate for secondary and post secondary education.  My research was in Differential Equations in Hilbert space.

In August, 2006, I was received the MAA George Polya Award for my expository paper “A Geometric Series from Tennis” published in The College Mathematics Journal, vol. 36, no. 3, May 2005.  In January, 2007, I received the Georgetown College Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching.

I am the author of the text Elementary Mathematical Modeling which is appropriate for college freshmen who have a moderate background in algebra.   There is a student solutions manual and Instructor's Resource Manual which includes all worked out problems,. teaching suggestions, calculator instructions, and additional problems for homework and tests.  There is also an online chapter on Chaos and Fractals.

My text Discrete Dynamical Systems: Theory and Applications is appropriate for upper level mathematics majors, but is out of print.  My text Discrete Dynamical Modeling is appropriate for students who have had some calculus and mathematical maturity. 

Rosalie Dance and I have developed a number of modules appropriate for algebra students.  These modules are classroom ready, have teacher materials, and can be found at  Hands-on Activities for Algebra.  The development of these materials was supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation. Opinions expressed in the materials are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Foundation.

I am teaching Introduction to Math Modeling and Strategies for Games and Puzzles, Fall, 2006.  I received a Teaching, Learning, and Technology Fellowship from Georgetown University to help revise Foundations of Mathematics. I received a Georgetown University Sony Award for Excellence in Science Education for development of Introduction to Mathematical Modeling.

I was one of the writers for NCTM's Principles and Standards for School Mathematics, and was on the Editorial Board for the Mathematics Teacher as well as being co-editor Mathematical Lens, a department in that journal.

I was a program officer at NSF in the Instructional Materials Development Program, a Visiting Professor at the Cornell University Center for Applied Mathematics, a Visiting Professor at the University of Iowa, and a Visiting Scholar at the Freudenthal Institute at the University of Utrecht. I was the Principal Investigator on a Teacher Enhancement Institute, a Teacher Leadership Grant, and a Curriculum Development Grant.

I am a frequent consultant, including being a consultant for the Annenberg/Corporation for Public Broadcasting Project, the television show, It's Academic, Cerebellum Corporation for development of 2 videotapes and accompanying books on calculus.  I have been on the Advisory Board of the Exploratorium's Math Explorer Project as well as numerous other NSF funded grants.

I promoted academic integrity through my activities as Faculty Chair of the Georgetown University Honor Council.

After many years of teaching the course, Foundations of Mathematics, I began to research how students learn to construct proofs and solve problems through the use of Video Think Alouds, which allow me to see how students approach problem solving. For videos of students solving problems, see onto, one-to-one, induction or Terry and Greg

I have also developed a series of Power Point math lessons, using only algebra, that help in the understanding of several aspects of population genetics.  Additionally, I have a number of spreadsheets that can be used when learning dynamic modeling, that is, modeling using difference equations.