Skip to main content

Report Christopher Thron Cameroon 2015


Name of Volunteer: Christopher Thron

Email: thron@tamuct.edu

Home Institution: Texas A&M University – Central Texas

Position at home institution: Assistant professor

Host Institution: University of N’Gaoundere, L'Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Sciences Agro-industrielles

Arrival and departure date in host country: March 27- April 26 2015

Who was your main contact in the host country (name, affiliation and email address)? Professor Vivent Kamla, Department of Mathematics, University of Ngaoundere ENSAI, BP 455 Ngaoundere Cameroon. Email: kamla_vc@yahoo.fr

Please answer the following questions:

1) Location (country, city, institution) of your lecture:

2) Dates of your lecture: 
March 29 – April 15 2015

3) Subject and title of the course:
First course: Statistiques appliques
Second course: Analyse Numerique.

4) How often did you teach a course?
First course, 30 total class hours (about 3 hours a day, 5 days a week for 2 weeks).
Second course, 20 total class hours (The schedule here was less regular)

5) How many students took part in the course(s)?
First class, 43 students.
Second class, 16 students.

6) Background of students: Undergraduate/ Master/ PhD Students?

7) Please provide (if possible) any schedule of activities/list of topics covered during your visit. 
Statistiques appliques: bar charts, histograms, quartiles, medians, box plots, mean, standard deviation, Bernoulli random variables, normal distribution, confidence intervals, confidence intervals for mean, central limit theorem, estimation of proportion*
Analyse numerique: Matrix operations, Linear systems, Gaussian elimination, least squares, eigenvalues via iteration, simple root-finding.

8) Did you develop or follow a prescribed syllabus or did you write your own? Was it available to the students before the course or when the course began?
I wrote my own – the complete course outline (in the form of Powerpoint slides) was available to the students at the beginning of class. However, the final content was somewhat abridged due to limitations in time and student ability.
Please also mention the references you used or any textbooks that were referred to:
For the applied statistics class I used two pdf references (in French) that I had obtained online and modified. The two references were:
1L-cours-statistiques.doc (available from: tfontanet.free.fr/premiere-L/1L-cours-statistiques.pdf) and Leonard, “Notes de cours de statistique mathematique elementaire”.

9) Did you use any books, classroom material, AV, or other technology-based materials? 
Yes – I distributed .pdf’s, .png lecture notes and powerpoint slides via USB. I gave lectures using a computer projector. I distributed LibreOffice Calc, and required that every student install.  I also distributed sample worksheets for students to use. Finally, I created .mp4 instructional videos that I shared to students via USB.

10) What type of assessment tools did you use? Attach if available, any notes or exams/quizzes that were distributed to students.
I gave a quiz before every class, plus final exams for both classes. Quizzes and exams are attached.

11) In which language was the course given:
French

12) Was the course language the native language of the students?
yes

13) Did you give any public lectures, and did you discuss with local staff issues regarding the curriculum?
No – no time!

14) Where did you live? (e.g. hotel, hostel, on campus, in city e.g.)
Rented a room across from campus

15) Do you have any recommendations/suggestions to the professor who will visit the university in the future (also regarding accommodation, health and visa issues)?
Many – see my separate article

16) Would you like to share anything else, such as a particular experience, testimonial etc.?
Yes – see separate article

17) Do you have any pictures which you would allow us to put on the IMU- CDC website?
Yes – you may use any of the pictures on: cttoct.blogspot.com

18) Are we allowed to publish the answers you provided above?
By all means.

Thank you very much!