‘The Finite Show’ continues to be popular 10 years later

In 1998, professor Steve McKinley stood in front of the camera, clad in an oversized navy blue T-shirt. A basket of laundry sat on the table in front of him and a cardboard cutout of “Stone Cold” Steve Austin covered in laundry stood to his right.\n“Hello, everyone, and welcome to another exciting episode of ‘The Finite Show.’ I’m your host, Steve, and we are coming to you live this evening from my grandmother’s laundry room.” \nAfter making a couple of jokes about his laundry, he started to do math problems using his socks as examples.\n“The Finite Show” premiered in 1998 as part of an initiative to help improve freshman retention, said Raymond Smith, associate vice provost in the office of academic affairs.\nA grant from the Lilly Endowment helped finance the project, intended to enhance M118 finite math classes. The initiative also increased tutoring and created D116 and D117, classes that split a normal finite class into two semesters. \n“In M118, there was a high percentage of students that did not do well,” Smith said. “Through these initiatives, performance in M118 improved. The number of D’s, F’s and W’s really decreased.” \nThe idea for the show came from Dan Maki, author of the “Finite Mathematics” textbook and former chair of the math department. “The Finite Show,” hosted by McKinley, aired twice a week on Channel 32. The 90-minute show broadcast from the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation building and allowed students to call in with questions from the textbook. \nWhile the creation and production of the show was a group effort, McKinley said the idea for the “wackiness and low quality” was his idea. \n“I always wanted to be a stand-up comic when I was little,” McKinley said, “but I wasn’t funny so I became a math teacher. I always thought it would be neat do something like ‘Bill Nye The Science Guy’ for math. Finite is kind of unique in that way, in that everything is a story problem so there is lots of room to come up with interesting examples.” \n“The Finite Show” team consisted of McKinley in front of the camera, fellow lecturer Andrew Dabrowski screening phone calls and Steve Egyhazi, currently the vice president of information technology, producing the live show. Smith said that Residential Programs and Services was a pivotal factor in getting the show on TV every week. \nWhile the goal of the show was educational, McKinley tried to make his examples – such as dirty laundry, Spice Girls dolls or fake mice – funny. However, because the show was live, a lot of humor was the result of student callers. \n“One of the first nights we were on air, a guy who was obviously drunk called,” McKinley said. “There was no tape delay and he just started rattling off expletives. We let him go for about a minute and it was pretty funny. I think I said something like, ‘I remember when I had my first beer.’” \nAnother time, during an example using fake mice, McKinley had to talk to a student for several minutes because she was convinced the props were real animals. \n“We had to sit on the phone for three or four minutes and talk to her and bang the mice on the table to show her they weren’t real,” he said. “She was really convinced and freaking out that we had hurt these mice and they had bit me.” \nWhile McKinley’s props have gone out of style in the last 10 years, students are still using “The Finite Show” as a resource. \nFreshman Chris Oosterbaan said he watched the show online about once a week when he took M118 last semester. \n“My teacher was on the show once and he told us it was an available resource,” Oosterbaan said. “Finite math is a difficult subject, and the show gives you the right answer and shows you the correct steps to get it.” \n“The Finite Show” broadcast live for three years, McKinley said. One reason the show ended was a lack of funds. McKinley said it would take another grant, such as the Lilly Endowment, for another show to be possible. Another reason the show ended is that the textbook has remained the same and students can watch old episodes online. \nOosterbaan said while the current online episodes cover the necessary problems, it would be worthwhile to bring back the show if the textbook changed. \n“I would love to do it again,” said McKinley, who still teaches M118. “In class I don’t typically employ the Spice Girls dolls, but my examples tend to be pretty whacked-out and more edgy than the normal example. That’s good because finite is a stressful class and I think adding a little levity can be helpful.”