USING GAMES TO TEACH MARKOV CHAINS

Primus: Problems, Resources, and Issues in Mathematics Undergraduate Studies, Dec 2003 by Johnson, Roger W

17. Sandefur, James. 1989. The Gunfight at the OK Corral. Mathematics Magazine. 62(2): 119-124.

18. Ship, Captain, and Crew. Dice game and rules available from Koplow Games, Inc. P. O. Box 965, Hull MA 02045 USA.

19. Stewart, Ian. 1996. How Fair is Monopoly! Scientific American. 274(4): 104-105.

20. Stewart, Ian. 1996. Monopoly Revisited. Scientific American. 275(4): 116-119.

21. Tan, Baris,. 1997. Markov Chains and the RISK Board Game. Mathematics Magazine. 70(5): 349-357.

Roger W. Johnson

ADDRESS: Department of Mathematics & Computer Science, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, Rapid City SD 57701 USA. Email: Roger.Joh.nson@sdsmt.edu and web site http://www.mcs.sdsmt. edu/~rwjohnso/.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH

Roger W. Johnson received his PhD in mathematics from the University of California at San Diego in 1984 and worked as a statistician for the Navy and at Carleton College before coming to the South Dakota School of Mines & Technology in 1996. He teaches mostly probability and statistics courses incorporating activity-based learning exercises as well as computer and calculator technology. Among other duties he currently serves as the 'Datasets and Stories' editor for the electronic journal Journal of Statistics Education. When not with family or doing statistics he may be found playing softball or, when his knees allow, running. With the publication of this article he is seriously considering buying stock in certain toy companies.