Math University Prof Quizzes Year 12
How many rectangles does a 4×4 square grid have?
Year 12 HL IB Mathematics students had the privilege to have a session with Mike Eden, Math Professor at the University of Waterloo in Canada. Mike helps run The Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing (CEMC), which runs internationally recognised Mathematics and Computing contests for all ages (CEMC (uwaterloo.ca)).
The students were introduced to several problems that involved various strands of Mathematics such as Counting Principles and Game Theory, giving them an idea of the types of Mathematics they could go on to study at one of the world’s leading mathematical institutes. “It’s so obvious,” said a student. The solutions, once given, quite often are obvious. .
The students were enthused by the chance to work on problems that they do not normally face in the classroom. “I didn’t realise Mathematics can be used to solve problems like that,” said one of the students. Mathematics has so many branches that students are often unaware of the variety of things they can study at university when taking a Mathematics course. Game theory, for instance, is a relatively modern branch of Mathematics that has applications in a variety of other subjects.
Thanks to Mike, and the rest of the team from the University of Waterloo, for inspiring our students to continue their studies in Mathematics.
