I’m glad I was assigned to be on this
group. Among all the topics offered, Algebra appealed to me the most. That’s
because I’m not a fan of Computers and its history, much more Statistics (I’ve
had a bad experience with this one).. I also had no idea before about most of
the Number Systems, and I don’t think I have that much interest about Geometry.
By the way, our group has seven members; two smoking hot males and five drop-dead
gorgeous females, and I think we get along really well.
In the presentation of our topic,
we’ve planned two games, a video presentation, and organized an informal debate.
Let me start with the two games we’ve
planned to let our classmates participate. First was the famous amazing race,
which was composed of six stations and one pit stop. Of course, the Algebra air
was very evident in every station as we really prepared games, puzzles, and
problems to keep it challenging and fun. They had to complete the stations before
going to the pit stop. I think my classmates appreciated our effort and they
were entertained. The second game was a derivative of the game ‘pass the message.’ Haha. The goal was to
pass on the number problem to each member of the group in a straight line to be
solved by the last person. It was both crazy and fun, every group was very
competitive. While we were watching in front, we just can’t help but smile and
laugh because our classmates were having a good time.... maybe.
Let us move on to our debate. A week
before our actual presentation, we had a different idea in mind about the topic
which we were going to focus on the debate; it was the question ‘Is learning
Algebra really necessary for Biology majors?’ we were interested about. But
when we consulted with Ma’am Cielo, turns out, our idea wasn’t quite appealing
and enough to actually argue about on the debate. Well, she had a point. That
was quite obvious. There’s no need to take that to the floor to know the
answer. So Ma’am gave us an idea. We actually did not think of that one until
she mentioned it. So thanks to Ma’am Cielo, we were able to find an interesting
subject to debate about. The problem states; ‘Which Mathematical perspective of
Algebra should be prioritized on secondary and tertiary levels of education?’
At first, I really, really thought that the government side would win... as it
often does. Haha, I was left in awe after the audience’s verdict showed that
the opposition side won. What the government side supported was to teach Algebra
in an operational perspective focusing on operations, equations, formulas and
inequalities, while the opposition side believed that it should be the
conceptual approach that should be prioritized which focuses on explaining the
different concepts behind Algebra. In my opinion, I think we need both. I don’t
agree that one should be given more priority than the other. Anyway, our debate
went well more than expected. We were just so nervous before we started as
every one of us was not that really prepared. My job wasn’t that important but
I’m just so glad my group-mates pulled it off really, really well! I was amazed
that both teams really presented a good argument. I’m relieved now that I was
able to do what I had to do even though it wasn’t as major as those that were
done by the rest of our group. This was an experience that really has taught us
a lot.
Our group presentation revolved around
the topic of ‘Consumer Mathematics.’ We merged two Pinoy mainstream shows Matanglawin and Mutya ng Masa to create a video presentation. We assigned two of
our group-mates Zam and Nykka, to act as Kuya Kim and Doris Bigornia. This was
the first concept we had in mind and it was the one we really tried to make
possible. Due to our stress-filled weeks prior to our presentation, we did not
have the luxury of time to bonggaciously
prepare for it, so we settled for a week’s preparation. We’re glad it still
went fine. The real flow of our story went like this; our classmate, Kuya Zeul,
was the one who acted that he wanted to start a soap business but his money was
short, so he had to loan from a bank in order to complete the required money
for the business. That’s pretty much the gist of the story and that’s also where
Algebra came in. Doris was the one who came up with the idea to loan from the Official Pautangan ng Bayan bank,
where I was the banker, while Kuya Kim on the other hand, was the one who helped
in finding the perfect formula for a good and marketable soap, with the help of
a Scientist played by Jaina. An advertisement of the soap featured Sharmaine as
a stunning girl using the product. Then, an interviewer, played by Marielle,
asked the public’s response to the Kalapati
whitening soap. When the soap was properly received by the public, Kuya Zeul
gained back what he loaned from the bank plus his profit. When he paid the
money he owed plus the interest, it concluded the story. Both Doris and Kuya
Kim helped Kuya Zeul achieve his goal. I know we could’ve done better if we
only had a lot of time; there would’ve been more sound effects, more scenes,
and more funny details. But even if our video was only short and was still kind
of raw, my classmates really thought it was fun and good and that’s just what
we needed after all the things and efforts we have done for that video. The
whole process of planning and making it was honestly, something to remember.
We were able to get a bird’s eye-view
on Algebra because of this report. I’m proud to say that we have done all these
and that even though it was not perfect and extravagant, it still made all of
us laugh and learn something. I’m just glad we’re already finished. From the first group, the Number Systems, to ours, the
Algebra, I just keep finding myself learning Math in a different and fun way. I
wish it was like this all the time when I was in grade school. Hehe.
Furthermore, there were two important things I have learned from this
experience; first, Algebra, no matter what perspective you’re looking from, it
is very important in honing your arithmetic and thinking skills, and second,
that in every group, cliché as it may sound, teamwork is really, very important
(that should be emphasized), because once even just one member of a group fails
to contribute on all the works needed to be done, there will surely be things that
can go wrong in the whole output. Well, I think that’s all there is to tell. Over-all,
I have to say that it was really a fun-filled learning experience. Looking
forward to the upcoming games and group presentations! J
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