Dr. Barbara D'Ambrosia, Ph.D

Background

Barbara D'Ambrosia came to JCU as an assistant professor in August 1994, shortly after completing her PhD. She retired from JCU as a professor in May 2022.

From early in her career, Barbara was active in the Mathematical Association of America. She was a Project NExT (New Experiences in Teaching) Fellow in 1995-1996 and served as a consultant for Project NExT for several later cohorts. In the Ohio Section of the MAA, Barbara served at various times as member and chairs of several committees as well as newsletter editor, secretary, and governor.

At JCU, Barbara taught many math courses for math and science majors, business majors, and education majors. She served on a variety of university committees throughout her career; notably, she was chair of the Committee on Academic Policies for three years and chair of the Faculty Council for two years. At the time she retired, Barbara was serving her fourth year as chair of the Department of Mathematics, Computer Science, and Data Science.

Research Interests

Early in her career, Barbara engaged in traditional mathematical research in Ring Theory, with a focus on square-free rings.

Later in her career, Barbara changed her research focus to the use of technology in the teaching of mathematics - something that had a greater impact on her teaching than her earlier algebraic research.

Education

1986, BS Mathematics, Colorado State University
1988, MS Mathematics, Colorado State University
1994, PhD Mathematics, University of Oregon

Publications

• "Virtual Spirograph: A liberal arts math project," Proceedings of the Twenty-seventh Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics. Pearson Education(2016), 110-116.
• "Using dual graphics views in GeoGebra," joint with Carl Spitznagel, Proceedings of the Twenty-sixth Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics. Pearson Education(2015), 59-68.
• "MathJax: Seamless mathematics on the web," joint with Carl Spitznagel, Proceedings of the Twenty-fifth Annual International Conference on Technology inCollegiate Mathematics. Pearson Education(2014), 275-282.
• "Creating Calculus Demos with GeoGebra 4," joint with Carl Spitznagel, Proceedings of the Twenty-fourth Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics. Pearson Education(2013), 29-37.
• "Exploring Symmetry with GeoGebra," joint with Carl Spitznagel, Proceedings of the Twenty-third Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics. Pearson Education(2012), 60-69.
• "GeoGebra: Dynamic Mathematics Made Easy," Joint with Carl Spitznagel, Proceedings of the Twenty-second Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics. Pearson Education(2011), 66-73.
• "Using the TI-NSPIRE CAS Software as a Classroom Demonstration Tool," joint with Carl Spitznagel, Proceedings of Twenty-first Annual InternationalConference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics. Pearson Education(2010), 101-105.
• "Exploring Polar Coordinates with the Geometer’s Sketchpad®," joint with Carl Spitznagel, Proceedings of the Twentieth Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics. Pearson Education(2009), 47-51.
• "Demonstrating Calculus Concepts Using the Geometer’s Sketchpad®," joint with Carl Spitznagel, Proceedings of the Nineteenth Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics. Pearson Education(2008), 45-49.
• "Technology in a Master’s Degree Program for Middle Grades Math Teachers," joint with Carl Spitznagel, Proceedings of the Eighteenth Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics. Pearson Education(2007), 65-72.
• "Using DERIVE 6 in Liberal Arts/Business Calculus," joint with Carl Spitznagel, Proceedings of the Seventeenth Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics. Pearson Education (2006), 53-57.
• "Study Cards on the TI-83 Plus," joint with Carl Spitznagel, Proceedings of the Sixteenth Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics, Addison Wesley Longman (2005), 52-56.
• "Rings with Solvable Quivers," joint with Frank Anderson, Pacific Journal of Mathematics 213(2004), 213-230.
• "Mathematical Animations for Your Web Pages," joint with Carl Spitznagel, Proceedings of the Fifteenth Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics. Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. (2004), 66-70.
• "Putting Mathematics on the Web: Easier Than Ever!," joint with Carl Spitznagel, Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics. Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. (2003), 43-47.
• "Introduction to LiveMath," joint with Carl Spitznagel, Proceedings of the Fourteenth Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics. Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. (2003), 39-`42.
• "Global dimension of transitive square-free rings," Communications in Algebra 30(2002): 1257-17.
• "The Easy Way to Interactive Mathematics on the Web," joint with Carl Spitznagel, Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics. Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. (2001), 83-87.
• "Decorate Your Web Pages with Mathematical Animations," joint with Carl Spitznagel, Electronic Proceedings of the Twelfth Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics, http://archives.math.utk.edu/ICTCM/v12.html (2000).
• "Square-free rings," Communications in Algebra, 27 (1999), 2045–2071.
• "Automorphisms of infinite-dimensional square-free algebras," joint with Frank Anderson, Communications in Algebra, 27 (1999), 1695–1710.
• "Getting started with Derive," joint with Carl Spitznagel, Proceedings of the Tenth Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics, Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. (1999), 99–103.
• "Discovery learning in calculus with the TI-92," joint with Carl Spitznagel, Proceedings of the Ninth Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics. Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. (1998), 96–100.
• "Derive: A guided tour for beginners," joint with Carl Spitznagel, Proceedings of the Eighth Annual International Conference on Technology in Collegiate Mathematics. Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. (1997), 389–393.
• "Square-free algebras and their automorphism groups," joint with Frank Anderson, Communications in Algebra, 24 (1996), 3163–3191.