Maths Talent Quest

Jose Sicurella
S4526414
Maths talent quest, an in service teachers perspectives
The Mathematical talent Quest (MTQ) run by the Mathematic Association of

Victoria (MAV) provides students throughout Victoria the ability to apply an
inquiry based learning approach to a Mathematical project. There is research that
states that inquiry based learning can lead to a deeper understanding when
implemented correctly (Baeten et al 2010). Not only does the MTQ give student
with a mathematical aptitude the ability to undertake further mathematical
research , but it also provides students with strengths and interests in other
fields the ability to incorporate these with their Mathematical development.
On entering the MTQ judging centre, observers are overwhelmed by the quantity
and quality of the students works, from online and digital presentation, to scale
house models and robotics for solving the Rubiks cube. The majority of entries
were from primary school children, with only a hand full of entries in the year 9
category. No entries from 10 onwards were seen on Friday 14 August. Judges
were required to sign in and a quick guide was provided by the MAV staff
member.
Initial judging of the first couple of entries was hard to get right due to a lack of
comparison between projects and also referencing the ability of students and the
level of the math used. It is for that reason, that at the end of my 3 hours of
judging I felt that I had to re-mark the first couple of projects. Even though I had
followed the rubric provided, a better understanding of the rubric criteria became
apparent the more projects I reviewed.
It appeared that the entries with clear mathematical links were chosen first for
judging and those with applied mathematical principles in their project chosen
later as it made it a little harder to critique the mathematics involved. Identifying
the level of mathematics used in a project and identifying if the level used was
age- appropriate or above standard levels took time to identify and required
referencing with the AusVELS standard. Even though some projects were very
complicated and the level of understanding in building such a project
demonstrated great problem solving abilities and applied knowledge , little
reference to the mathematics used in the project were shown. This was clearly
the case with the Rubiks cube solving computer project. The project wasnt
functional due to a missing piece (3D printer not working at the time to complete
the robotic device) but clear explanations were provided of student discoveries
and how they resolved problems encountered. The only component that
prevented giving this project the highest marks possible was the explanation of
how mathematical references were incorporated in the programming of the
robotics.
Project work such as the MTQ allows students the ability to incorporate other
disciplines into the mathematical curriculum to make in more engaging. This was
seen in a number of entries that I marked where students incorporated a love of
sports with statistical analysis. One particular entrant, a year 7 comic book
format project that looked at relative strength of insects to humans specifically
wrote that he did not find mathematics enjoyable , but loved being able to
incorporate his love of drawing with his Mathematical project. To get the most
out of project based work teachers and students are encouraged to agree on
Jose Sicurella
S4526414
detailed goals and how the results should be presented, as well constant
teacher monitoring to ensure all members are contributing to the project
(LaFave, N 2012)
Neil LaFave (2012) concludes that project work is a great way to engage
talented and gifted students where students can work at their own abilities and
pace. It is also another tactic teachers could used to manage talented and gifted
students as a reward or incentive. However, project work in maths can come
with limitations. For example, research has shown that students do find it difficult
to design approaches to analyse applied problems (Ganter and Green, 2009).
These authors also state it may necessitate teamwork to breakdown the project
into subprojects, and the contributions from each team member is not always
easy to establish for assessment purposes. Ganter and Green point out
assumptions about real life situations need to be made by students to do the
projects, so several outcomes based on different assumptions may need to be
presented. Finally, different areas of the curriculum may be used in different
class projects, meaning the same maths content is not learned by the whole
class. It should also be mentioned that judges at the MTQ see only the
successful, completed projects, but the number of projects where students felt
overwhelmed or planned poorly and abandoned the projects is unknown.
Due to the detailed inspection of student project, most judges were observed to
be focused on critiquing and marking the project as correctly as possible. This
along with the task of marking as many project as possible in a given timeframe
meant that there was little time to interact between judges. This limited the
effectiveness of MTQ as a professional development opportunity where teachers
can interacts with other peers. However, it does provide teachers with a great
opportunity to get ideas for projects that could be run in their classes to engage
students.
The MTQ is a great event that provides students from Victoria with a wonderful
opportunity to undertake project based work that is judged by mathematics
teachers from Victoria. It provides an opportunity for students to extend
themselves and allows teachers to observe and critique student projects from
other schools. It also provides opportunities for teachers to reflect on student
learning and increase their teaching repertoire.
Jose Sicurella
S4526414
References
Baeten, M., Kyndt, E., Struyven, K. and Dochy, F. (2010). Using student-centred
learning environments to stimulate deep approaches to learning: Factors
encouraging or discouraging their effectiveness. Educational Research Review,
5(3), pp.243-260.
Ganter R and Green K., (2009). Team base resource modelling projects that teach
more than mathematics content. The UMAP Journal 30 (4) p413-428.
LaFave, N. (2012). You want me to teach what?. Arlington, Va.: National Science
Teachers Association.

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Jose Sicurella

The Mathematical talent Quest (MTQ) run by the Mathematic Association of

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