This project is motivated by the need in the mathematics program for a single focus that can direct mathematics majors' learning throughout their undergraduate education and ultimately prepare them to be independent and life-long learners. As a capstone experience, the previous senior seminar has been intended to display this independence by having students pull together 3 years of instruction into a single presentation. Unfortunately students have not been prepared to meet this challenge. This project has therefore chosen as its organizing principle the need to improve undergraduate research capabilities at every stage of the program. This project improves students' research experiences by improving mastery of mathematical content, creating opportunities to complete extended assignments and self-directed inquiry, and providing modern technological capabilities that facilitate creative investigations. This project identifies courses for which extended assignments and projects are used, creates assignments and projects that are stimulating and relevant to course objectives, increases the expectations for student accomplishment as they advance through the program, and tracks students' progress according to projects completed and mastery levels reached at each stage. The benefits of this project are described in terms of student gains: (a) students learn that mathematics is a dynamic subject that is constantly changing and expanding; (b) students understand how mathematics is created and how mathematical research is conducted; and (c) by attending conferences and giving presentations of their work, students become connected to the greater mathematics community and gain greater appreciation for the beauty and elegance of mathematics. *
