y3285wan is running for the Vice President (Academic) for MathSoc this term. The election will begin on November 14th to 18th, on this page and is under the supervision of the Election Committee.
y3285wan's goal is to remove the use of commercial devices used for class participation, namely, the iClicker and other similar products from math classes. Alternatively, they should represent the students to persuade instructors to not include iClicker participation in assessments, or to switch to other methods/platforms that are open and free to students.
This will change some professors' teaching preferences, and is not easy to do. However, y3285wan would like to try their best if possible to maximize the speaking of students, given that a majority of UW students do not think iClicker is a good form of teaching. Even if the end goal (removing iClickers) is not achieved, there will still be progresses toward the transition.
Once elected, y3285wan will cooperate with the committee to survey both students and instructors about their opinions on the aforementioned tool. They will analyze why instructors prefer their method of teaching and thus can brainstorm ideas of countering them, and whether it is appropriate to transition away from iClickers. For students, it is generally believed that they do not like iClickers but there is missing a unified platform to express it.
The group working on this can find alternatives and persuade instructors to switch into the alternative methods, such as moving participation (that is considered to be not useful) points to somewhere else. Or if participation through quizzes does matter significantly (which y3285wan does not wish), instructors should use alternative platforms that offer availability, affordability and reliability. For the second scenario, it is also advised that university-run tool for online voting could be implemented, which is briefly mentioned in this post.
At the end, the faculty will hear the speak of students, and more and more instructors will consider y3285wan's proposal as a possibility.
Along with the main campaign, y3285wan, as VP, will exercise duties for MathSoc. They will work together with potential presidents and members to make anything possible to help students progress in the university better.
The iClicker problem will still be the primary focus as it is complex enough to deserve a VP to devote time and resources to the matter. While this does not mean that other academical matters are trivial, but if one makes too many promises at the same time, is it truly believable that the person will do all and do them well?