The Morgan-Potsdam Model

The Morgan-Potsdam Model is the name given to a method of the teaching of mathematics developed by Dr. Clarence F. Stephens at Morgan State University and refined at the State University of New York College at Potsdam. In the 1980's, Uri Treismann, of the University of California, independently discovered a few of Dr. Stephens techniques in what is sometimes called the Group Method.

Clarence and Harriet Stephens in 1997

Prior to Dr. Clarence F. Stephens arrival at Morgan State University (then College) as Chairman of the Mathematics Department in 1947, no student from that institution had gone on to earn a masters degree in the Mathematical Sciences. Between 1947 and 1962, he discovered and developed the keys to his method. Four of his students, (Barnes, Grainger, Moore, and Williams) from the 1964 class (of 10 students) all went on to earn a doctorate - Earl Barnes (University of Maryland 1968), Arthur Grainger (University of Maryland 1972), and Scott Williams (Lehigh University 1969) all obtained a Ph.D. in Mathematics. Below is a list of Dr. Stephens' students at Morgan who went on to earn the doctorate.


l. to r.: Barnes, Grainger, Williams

One of Dr. Stephens students from the State University of New York College at Geneseo, Marlene Gewand, went on to earn a Ph.D. in Mathematics (State University of New York at Buffalo - Topology 1978) under the direction of another former student, Dr. Scott Williams.

For over 100 years the State University of New York College at Potsdam (SUNYC-Potsdam) was a school which primarily trained teachers of secondary education. Prior to Dr. Clarence F. Stephens arrival at SUNYC-Pottsdam as Chairman of the Mathematics Department in 1969, no student from that institution had gone on to earn a Ph.D degree in the Mathematical Sciences. At SUNYC-Potsdam, Dr. Stephens refined his methods of instruction now known as the Potsdam model. Eleven of Dr. Stephens' SUNYC-Potsdam students have gone on to earn a doctorate. He served as chairman of the mathematics department at Potsdam from 1969 until his retirement in 1987. During his tenure the department became nationally known as a model of teaching excellence in mathematics. For several of these years the program was among the top producers of mathematics majors in the country. The teaching techniques that Professor Stephens introduced at Potsdam, and earlier at Morgan state, have been adopted by many mathematics departments across the country. Below we discuss The Model.

Here is a list of Dr. Stephens' students at Morgan who went on to earn the doctorate:

Earl O. Embree (Ph.D. Mathematics University of Illinois-Urbana - Differential Equations 1963)
Earl R. Barnes (Ph.D. Mathematics University of Maryland-College Park - Analysis 1968)
Scott W. Williams (Ph.D. Mathematics Lehigh University - Topology 1969)
Vassily Cateforis (Ph.D. Mathematics University of Wisconsin-Madison - Algebra 1970)
Robert S. Smith (Ph.D. Mathematics Pennsylvania State University-University Park - Algebra 1970)
Arthur D. Grainger (Ph.D. Mathematics University of Maryland-College Park - Logic 1972)
Gloria Ford Gilmer (Ph.D. Mathematics Education - Marquette University -?)
Charles Moore (Ph.D. Mathematics Education - Catholic University?)
Sylvester Reese (D.Ed. Mathematics Education - New York University?)


THE MODEL (to be completed later)

Several articles and a book have been written on the Morgan-Potsdam model - see Math Education at its Best: The Potsdam Model. In preparation is The Stephens Experiment by Gloria Ford Gilmer and Scott W. Williams.

  In the preparation of this web page, we had help from Earl Barnes, Clarence Stephens, and Gloria Gilmer.

These web pages are brought to you by

The Mathematics Department of
The State University of New York at Buffalo
.

and created by

Dr. Scott W. Williams
Professor of Mathematics

maintained by Scott Williams: sww@acsu.buffalo.edu

 

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