About+the+professor

media type="skypestatus" key="rtalbert235" ARG0="bigclassic" width="182" height="44"
 * [[image:rt_dinner_table.jpg width="224" height="168" align="left"]]Office**: Old Main 128
 * Office hours**: MF 11:00--12:00, TR 1:30--3:00, and W 10:00--11:00 and by appointment.
 * Email**: rtalbert@franklincollege.edu
 * Office phone**: 317.738.8268
 * AOL Instant Messenger**: rtalbert235
 * Twitter**: [|RobertTalbert]
 * Personal home page**: []
 * Skype:** rtalbert235

Hi! My name is Robert Talbert, and I'm the professor for MAT 135. I am an Associate Professor of Mathematics and Computing Science in the Department of Mathematics and Computing at [|Franklin College]. I came to Franklin in the fall of 2001, having taught at [|Bethel College] in Mishawaka, IN for four years.

I earned a Bachelor's degree in mathematics from [|Tennessee Technological University], where I started off as a psychology major (and finished with two minors, one in psychology and the other in English). I went on to earn a Master of Science and a Ph.D. degree in mathematics from [|Vanderbilt University]. My doctoral research was in an area known as [|algebraic topology], where I applied structures from abstract algebra to understand and relate certain kinds of geometric properties of surfaces and other constructions. I also taught extensively at Vanderbilt, usually teaching Calculus I, II, and III at least twice a year. At Vanderbilt, I was named a Master Teaching Fellow and won the Outstanding Teaching Assistant award given to the top graduate student instructor at the university.

At Franklin, I teach Quantitative Reasoning, Calculus Preparation, and Calculus, as well as the upper-level courses in Linear Algebra, Topics in Geometry, and Modern Algebra. I am also the coordinator for Franklin College's 3:2 dual-degree program in engineering with the [|Purdue School of Engineering and Technology at IUPUI]. I'm also on the Promotion and Tenure Committee at Franklin and wear several other minor administrative hats as well.

My scholarly interests right now lie in the field called [|cryptology], the study of the making and breaking of secret codes using ideas from mathematics and computing. Specifically, I'm interested in [|multivariate public key systems] and in the cryptanalysis of [|block ciphers]. I am also very interested in the scholarship of teaching and learning, particularly in mathematics education and engineering education, focusing on the use of technology in learning mathematics and using [|peer instruction] techniques in basic math and science courses (like MAT 135!).

I live in Bargersville with my wife, Cathy, and my three kids Lucy (age 7), Penny (age 5), and Harrison (age 2) along with our cat Starbuck. When I'm not at work or hanging out with the family, I enjoy cooking, reading, [|blogging], and playing bass guitar. We are members of [|Good Shepherd Lutheran Church] in Franklin.