Breakout Sessions for Friday, February 6, 2026
This breakout session introduces the Hardy-Weinberg principle through lecture and small group hands-on interdisciplinary activities. Participants will discuss the basic genetic ideas behind the model and the often-confusing relations between allele and genotype distribution in the current and succeeding generation. We will note the biological conditions which imply the allele distribution remains the same in all later generations. We will show that proportional reasoning and algebra explain why genotype frequencies remain stable under these biological conditions and the unrealistic assumption that the population is infinite. Participants will evaluate example classroom problems from textbooks and online resources, focusing on their lack of mathematical clarity and/or biological accuracy. In particular, we will consider a standard problem which is often presented without one or the other of the two central hypotheses.
The paper is available at
This joint panel, hosted by the National Institute for Theory and Mathematics in Biology (NITMB) and the NSF–Simons Foundation–funded National AI Institute for the Sky (SkAI), will take place at the Symposium on February 6. The discussion will focus on interdisciplinary teaching, highlighting approaches that integrate mathematics, biology, and data science across institutional contexts.
Moderator: Joseph Hibdon, Northeastern Illinois University, Associate Director of Convening Programs at NITMB
Panelists:
Sonja Petrović — Applied Mathematics, Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT)
Emina Stojković — Biology, Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU)
Allan Drummond — Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Genetics, University of Chicago
Lindsay House — SkAI Preceptor, University of Chicago and City Colleges of Chicago
Math anxiety, the most prominent anxiety disorder in an educational setting, is a sadly widespread phenomenon. It influences not only student's performance, focus, and learning behavior, but also their academic and vocational choices which have ramifications for our communities and societies. All of us, not just math teachers, should do their parts in mitigating math anxiety. In this breakout session, we will report on some sad facts about math anxiety, describe two characteristics of math anxiety antecedents, and we will suggest five broad ways to mitigate math anxiety. As a group, we will explore, suggest and discuss concrete actions to foster and build a community of care to mitigate math anxiety for all.
For good or ill, today’s mathematics students rely less on traditional textbooks and instead turn to the media they have grown up with: short-form video content and online homework with immediate feedback. In this reality, if we use online homework in a class, that homework system is the textbook.
However, for many students, particularly those from under-resourced backgrounds, the high cost of online homework systems creates a significant barrier and required course materials are frequently not acquired. At Columbia College Chicago, we began a project in 2024 to radically and quickly develop open-source materials to be made available free to students. Over one year, and supported by an Illinois state grant, we have deployed our own WeBWorK server and authored a large set of open-source (CC-BY) problems, along with creating an OER text that supports four different multi-section mathematics courses.
During this session, we will describe challenges we faced, opportunities for improving the student experience, and some feedback from the pilot sections
A Conversation with Alexandria Volkening and Daryl Renae McPadden