Isfahan Mathematics House activities for mathematically gifted students
Ali Rejali
Isfahan University of Technology and Isfahan Mathematics House
a_rejali@cc.iut.ac.ir
“As a way to deal with the problem of lack of interest in students for studying mathematics, a mathematics competition took place among volunteer high school students in Isfahan in 1983. This successful event resulted to the organization of the Iranian Mathematics Competitions among high school students by the initiation of the Iranian Mathematical Society and support of the ministry of education. Having won a bronze medal in Iran’s first official participation in IMO in 1987, the ministry of education was convinced to invest in the training of the Iranian students for participation in the annual IMO. As a result of this decision, the Young Researchers Club was established. This Club tried to select the most talented students in order to have a significant presence in the IMO’s.
In a parallel process for preparing the students for IMO and other scientific Olympiads, a “National Organization for Development of Exceptional Talents” was established and they tried to separate talented students to study in special schools, so called gifted students’ schools. Later on some other special private schools also have been established throughout the country. In order to enter some of these special schools, one should take part in a multiple choice entrance examination. Unfortunately many elementary and intermediate schools and parents force the kids to prepare themselves for these examinations and take part in some extra curriculum activities during their school days. In a meeting of elementary school teachers at Isfahan Mathematics House, some of them confessed that they finished their mathematics syllabus within 5 months in order to prepare their students for these entrance examinations in the left over time!
One of the goals of Isfahan Mathematics House from the beginning of its establishment in 1999 was the identification and nourishment of promising students in mathematics. We studied the negative impact of these methods of selecting mathematically gifted students, and decided to practice other ways to select and nourish these students. We introduced a system of continuous evaluation with the help of teachers with new standards for this. In this paper, the proposal and activities will be presented.”
History
As a way to deal with the problem of lack of interests in students for studying mathematics , a mathematics competition took place at Isfahan University of Technology in 1983, among volunteer high school students in Isfahan province[. This successful event resulted to the organization of the Iranian Mathematics Competitions among high school students by the initiation of the Iranian Mathematical Society (IMS) and support of the ministry of education .
In 1983, the first Mathematical Contest was held at provincial levels in Iran. In 1987, after 4 years of running the Mathematics Competitions (National Mathematics Olympiads) , 6 Iranian students participated in the 28th IMO in Cuba . Having won a bronze medal in Iran’s first official participation, the ministry of education was convinced to invest in the training of the Iranian students for participation in the annual IMO. Following this, the Young Researchers Club (YRC) was established. In order to have a significant presence in the IMO’s, YRC tried to select the most talented students.
The team members are selected through five stages:
Stage 1: Capable and interested students participate in mathematics contests in their home towns.
Stage 2: The selected students of the first stage participate in mathematics contests at the provincial level. (At the beginning, stages 1 and 2, were running by mathematics teachers throughout the country, while after 4 years upon the participation of Iran in the IMO, the event has been running by the ministry of education and the first stage is dismissed and the questions for the second stage are multiple choices type and are unified through the country with minimum involvement of mathematics teachers .)
Stage 3: YRC arranges an extensive summer program in Tehran for students selected at the provincial level. The program is supervised and monitored by a scientific committee and operates as a summer school. These summer programs are aimed at providing appropriate opportunities for talented students to participate in different training courses and be able to develop their capabilities, use rich resources and benefit from qualified instructors.
Furthermore, the trained students can play a significant role in encouraging other interested students to prepare themselves for mathematics contests in their provinces.
The summer program provides a good opportunity for YRC to select the most talented students for the IMO’s based on more fair and balanced conditions. It’s worth mentioning that a total of 40 students participate in each of the summer programs from all around the country.
Stage 4: At the end of each summer program, 9 students are selected. These 9 students enter university and study in any field they want, without taking the National Entrance Examination and they are exempted from compulsory military service.
Stage 5: The selected team is subject to another intensive and crucial training program in YRC and participates in several examinations. Finally, the six members of the team for the IMO will be selected among these 9 students.
In a parallel process for preparing the students for IMO and other scientific Olympiads in Iran, a “National Organization for Development of Exceptional Talents” was established and they tried to separate all talented students to study in special schools, so called gifted students’ schools.
Later on some other special private schools also have been established throughout the country.
In order to enter some of these special schools, one should take part in a multiple choice entrance examination.
Unfortunately many elementary and intermediate schools and parents force the kids to prepare themselves for these examinations and take part in some extra curriculum activities during their school days.
We did an opinion poll study among high school teachers ,the results has been reported in TSG6 at Icme-11:
The majority believed that for identifying a mathematically gifted students, these factors are important, respectively:
a. Being perseverant, ability to communicate with the teacher and having a wide range of interests.
b. Having the power of presenting his or herself, and deep general knowledge.
c. Having good and immediate understanding and the power of presenting creative and new solutions for mathematics problems.
d. Being disciplined, and cool.
e. Having high grades average.
While some other teachers consider the following 3 factors respectively for the same question:
- Success in the entrance examinations, and parents’ beliefs.
- Having good grades.
- The students’ background and his or her teachers’ recommendations.
In answering the question of the effect of the entrance examinations of special schools on our system of education, some of the teachers believe that these tests have effects on the system by improving teachers’ knowledge, students’ formal growth but do not provide a deep knowledge and understanding, and in many cases, it results in students’ exhaustion.
In many of the extra-curriculum activities, the schools and teachers teach the students some materials from higher levels, so many students memorize this higher level mathematics without deep understanding and they will never pay attention to these materials on their place.
Many teachers believe that some of the students who are gifted but do not attend these special schools, have difficulty in their education comparing to those who enter these schools, because of the facilities in these special schools, while many of the teachers believe that they can tolerate and catch up more easily.
The main effect of having special schools in Iran on the system of education according to many teachers is:
- Lowering the level of other schools (by omitting the competence atmosphere in their classes).
- Social discrimination among students.
- Neglecting the text books and the curriculum by students and the teachers.
- High expectations and loosing the power of working and living with others.
Although the performance of the Iranian teams at IMO’s is outstanding , but this does not present our system of education, for example in TIMSS, our students do not show high performance .
The only good part about the special schools is that many of the students in these schools are talented and they make a hard and interesting working atmosphere at these schools. Although almost all how admit to these schools, will attend, many teachers, parents and students do not believe in the system.
According to psychology effects of being in this kind of schools in the society and the results of omitting gifted students from normal classes on the system of education, and Iran’s result on TIMSS, in spite of some good results for some students in the IMO, many of mathematics teachers believe that these special schools have a negative effect on the whole system of mathematics education .
Although statistical results show that many mathematics teachers think that the most important factor of giftedness is success in entrance examinations of special schools, 28 percent of them believe that one can make a gifted student by teaching him or her. This belief is the cause of expensive extra-curriculum classes, that it has a lot of negative impact on the education system of our country.
We believe that separating the gifted, talented, and promising students from other students is not an appropriate solution for the improvement of education, as many of our colleagues in schools believe similarly. But these students need extra-attention and a nourishing atmosphere.
Isfahan Mathematics House (IMH) provides such extra-curriculum activities by organizing workshops, camps and research groups for students with high ability without separating them from their usual schooling (www.mathhouse.org).
Many of these students enjoy these activities and the teachers approve this practice, (we obtained these opinions time to time from teachers and students). We believe that in this process, IMH helps the students to learn mathematics deeply and teach them living skills which are necessary for living in the new society.
What is a Mathematics House?
Since 1999,in Iran, teams of teachers and university staff have established what are called Mathematics Houses throughout the country. The houses meant to provide opportunities for students and teachers at all levels to experience team work by being involved in a deeper understanding of mathematics through the use of various media.
These include information technology and independent studies ,feeling the essence of mathematics and learning about the history and applications of mathematical sciences ,playing mathematical games and studying interdisciplinary ideas such as mathematics and art, studying mathematics and the ancient Iranian heritage and buildings, studying mathematics and genetics , mathematics and social sciences , and medical or engineering mathematics.
Team competitions ,e-competitions , using mathematics in the real world, studies on the history of mathematics , the connections between mathematics and other subjects such as art and science , general expository lectures , exhibitions , workshops ,summer camps and annual festivals are some of the non-classic mathematical activities of these houses.[ Barbeau ,E.J. and Taylor, P.J. (editors),Challenging Mathematics In and Beyond the Classroom, The 16th ICMI Study ,Springer ,2009.]
One of the goals of Isfahan Mathematics House (the first one in Iran) from the beginning of its establishment in 1999, was the identification and nourishment of promising students in mathematics. We studied the negative impact of these methods of selecting mathematically gifted students, and decided to practice other ways to select and nourish these students. We introduced a system of continuous evaluation with the help of teachers with some new standards .
What are the activities?
K-5 Students:
- Establishment of a playing room for K-5 students, in which they can play with mathematical tools with the guide of instructors (not like exhibitions).
- Providing useful books, games, puzzles, computer software packages like logo and introducing them to useful sites for the K-5 students.
- Teaching their teachers to detect gifted students, by looking at their work continuously and by recording their positive reactions in understanding mathematical concepts, willingness toward mathematical works, solving classical and every-day life problems, their ability to work with other students in teams, raising good questions and helping other students to understand mathematical concepts.
- Training the elementary school teachers to teach the concepts properly ,by knowing the goals of mathematical curriculum in elementary schools.
Future Plans:
- A team competition for all volunteer students (4 to 5 grades)
- The possibility of membership to IMH for volunteers.
- Organizing some summer camps or exhibitions and playing mathematical puzzles and games in parks for volunteers.
6-8 Grades:
- Mathematics workshops for volunteer intermediate school students ,in which they learn how to work with the other students (in teams), being introduced to new concepts , the deep properties of what they have learned in previous grades and solving problems.
- The possibility of membership to IMH for volunteers.
- Providing useful books, games, puzzles, computer software packages for them.
- Providing chances for them to solve every-day life problems and other mathematical problems (using the guide of other university and high school students as well of teachers ,instead of teaching them new concepts.)
- One day celebration in a park , working on mathematical problems and puzzles while they are accompanying by their parents.
Future Plans:
- A team competition for all volunteer students (6 to 8 grades)
- Organizing some summer camps and exhibitions for them.
- Giving them the opportunity to make teams of problem solving or studying new concepts by themselves (with the guide of the other members of the house),writing the solutions of problems, presenting their ideas ,etc.
- Giving them the opportunity to take part in the Mathematics House Annual Festival.
9-12 Grades:
- Mathematics workshops for volunteer high school students ,in which they learn how to work with the other students (in teams), being introduced to new concepts , the deep properties of what they have learned in previous grades and solving problems.
- The possibility of membership to IMH for volunteers.
- Providing useful books, computer software packages for them.
- Providing chances for them to solve every-day life problems and other mathematical problems (using the guide of university and students as well of teachers ,instead of teaching them new concepts.)
- Exposing them with the problems in the history of mathematics and the relations between mathematical sciences and other fields such as art and literature.
- Giving them the opportunity to take parts in the expository and popular talks about mathematical sciences and their applications.
- Giving them the opportunity to make teams of problem solving or studying new concepts or doing projects by themselves (with the guide of the other members of the house),writing the solutions of problems, presenting their ideas ,etc.
- Giving them the opportunity to take part in the Mathematics House Annual Festival, by writing papers on the history or applications of mathematical sciences or writing reports on their team projects.
- Establish different Exhibitions for mathematical tools and also their achievements for other students, teacher administrators, their families and the general population.
- Organizing mathematical camps ,workshops and other events for them to be informed about new ideas and the methods of problem solving.
- Giving them the opportunity to take part in other festivals and competitions.
- Organising mathematical sciences competitions such as (Tournament of the Towns, Statistics Competition and A_lympiad Competition) for High School Students.
- Giving them the chance to criticize other students by listening to their talks and reading their papers.
- Helping them for choosing their field of study in the University , according to their achievements in the National Entrance Examination .
The Blinds:
Mathematics House think that blinds and other disabled persons are also creative and we have to use their creativity for showing their abilities, and give them their confidence on themselves.
So far the blinds in Mathematics House have a special place. They are communicating with each other and other people through computer and other ICT facilities.
They help each other by writing books and making CD’s to teach themselves how to use computer and how to learn mathematical concepts.
We still have a long way to go. So, I welcome all your comments and helpful suggestions.
See http://www.mathhouse.org
