Monday, 11 December 2017

Math fair at West Point Gray Academy

In the math fair at West Point Gray Academy, I saw a lot of interesting and fun fair/unfair games created by students. Most of the games were correctly designed based on the principles of probability. I think this math fair should be held every year because it can help students understand probability more clearly and thoroughly in an amusing way. They cannot apply probability in their games if they do not know probability in detail. It is also thoughtful to ask students to list the possible outcomes so that students can explain and communicate with players why the game is fair or unfair. I also like the instructions provided by the teacher to guide students to make the game and the single-point rubric which is easier for students to understand than the traditional one.
In addition, I have two suggestions for the math fair. First, to make the math fair more enjoyable, the teacher can ask the visitors or players to choose two or three games that they like most and the team whose game gets the most votes can be awarded with a certificate of the most favorite game in the math fair. This can increase the extrinsic motivation of students to work more on their game project or may trigger their creativity more. Also, the teacher can ask some students of higher grades to be peer mentors to provide help or suggestions to junior students for the game project. The senior students can check whether the ideas behind the games are clear and correct. I think this peer learning can help both junior and senior students in the areas of communication and critical thinking.    

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