Ricardo D. Fierro, Ph.D.
Professor
Chair of the Dept of Mathematics, April 2009-June 2012
Associate Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics, June 2012 - Present
Email: fierro@csusm.edu
Ph.D., Mathematics, University of California, San Diego
B.S., Mathematics, University of California, Davis
Fall 2011 teaching schedule
Math 212 Mathematics for K-8 Teachers, II Geometry, Measurement, and Reasoning
Lecture: MW 11:30am-12:45pm. Office hours: MW 10am-11:15am
Spring 2012 teaching schedule
- Math 212 Mathematics for K-8 Teachers, II Geometry, Measurement, and Reasoning
Lecture: MW 11:30am-12:45pm - Math 480 Introduction to Optimization (offered through Extended Learning to international students)
Lecture: MWF 8:30am-10:20am (8 week course)
This class focuses on the simplex method; sensitivity analysis; interpreting computer output and the managerial use of shadow prices; formulating linear programs in Diet problems, Work-Scheduling problems; Blending problems (e.g., how can you minimize the cost of blending oils into needed gasolines?), Production Process problems (e.g., how can you determine monthly production levels to minimize the cost of meeting scheduled demands?), Transportation problems, (e.g., how can you reduce the cost of meeting customer demands by shipping products from plants to customers?); Transshipment problems, Assignment problems. Project planning and control with PERT (the planning, scheduling, and coordinating of numerous interrelated activities); and Network problems. The programming methods include the Simplex Method and its specialized variations (such as Goal Programming).
Meetings
2. Campus-Wide Early Start Implementation Team: as scheduled by Doodle surveys
3. College Dean & Chairs meeting: 2nd Friday of each month, 12pm-2pm
4. College Planning and Budget Committee: 2nd Friday of each month, 2pm-4pm
5. College Faculty Development Committee: Every Tuesday, 1pm-2:30pm
Truly, it is not knowing but learning,
not possessing but acquiring,
not being there but getting there,
which yields the greatest enjoyment.
Carl Friedrich Gauss, 1808
Samantha Fierro (blue, 3)
Samantha Fierro
Mitchell Fierro
Mitchell, senior pics
Rick Fierro
I joined the Dept of Mathematics in 1992, but took a leave of absence for a postdoc at UCLA for one year. I published numerous joint articles in numerical analysis, and co-authored two MATLAB software packages: "UTV Tools" (joint work with Per Christian Hansen, Professor of Scientific Computing, at www2.imm.dtu.dk/%7epch, and P.S.K. Hansen), and "Expansion Pack" (joint work with Professor Per Christian Hansen) that supplements and complements UTV Tools. Both MATLAB collections were published and are freely available at www.netlib.org/numeralgo.
I've taught a wide variety of courses such as mathematics for elementary school teachers, linear algebra, modern geometry, statistics and probability, optimization, numerical analysis, business calculus, modern algebra, and college algebra.
I spent a sabbatical leave teaching K-6 students at local elementary schools, including a third grade class with Mrs. Emme, a fourth-fifth grade combination class with Mrs. Roncaglia, and two sixth grade classes with Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Dugger. It was an intensive opportunity to develop, test, and refine techniques, based on classroom experiences as well as recommendations from the literature, for helping students learn math content. The elementary school teachers I've worked with continue to welcome me to their classrooms to teach their students. These past and present experiences help establish a stronger connection between the elementary classroom and the college classroom while teaching prospective teachers in Math 210, Math 212, and Math 311.
Recent publications:
1. Mathematics for Elementary School Teachers (textbook, 946 pages; Cengage Learning, Brooks/Cole imprint, available Feb 3, 2012). The textbook covers the five strands of mathematics in the elementary curriculum: numbers and operations, algebra and functions, data analysis and probability, measurement, and geometry. This work is based on several hundred hours of experience teaching elementary school students, a sabbatical leave spent teaching in local elementary schools, fifteen years of teaching prospective teachers in college classrooms, published research of talented K-8 teachers and college educators, NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) and CCSS (Common Core State Standards) standards that describe what teachers should know and be able to do, and valuable feedback from instructors, editors, peer reviewers, and a skilled team of editors.
2. Acitivities Manual (to accompany the textbook, co-author Randa Kress, available Feb 3, 2012).
3. Instructor's Solution Manual (557 pages) and Student Solutions Manual (119 pages) to accompany the textbook, co-author Scott Fallstrom, available Feb 3, 2012).
