Not So Behind The Scenes: A Written Report

Truthfully, I thought that we wouldn’t be doing any more algebra after finishing those required Math subjects during the first year of college. Most of us may have not-so-fond memories of algebra, mostly characterized by red marks and those “study more” or “work harder” warnings. However, I am proud to say that our “presentation” wasn’t like that…probably. Instead of doing the boring way of teaching algebraic concepts the report, as instructed was done in a creative and hopefully enjoyable way.

The ALGEBRA group planned to incorporate games, an informal debate, a video presentation and more games in the span of two 1 ½ hour meetings. The planning and preparation for these activities were, of course, a pain in the a**… but I think it was worth it. Hopefully our hard work helped “enlighten” our audience.

(Almost forgot about that diary-like format thing)

February 5, 2014 – Game Day

                The meeting started off with a continuation of the polygon “invention” thing. To ensure that we had enough time to prepare we reported out “invention” as soon as possible. After that most of our members left to prepare their stations while two of us stayed behind to give instructions to the participants (as if they don’t know how an amazing race works). The amazing race included 6 stations manned by (1) Nykka Sara, (2) Sharmaine Lacanaria, (3) Zam Zailon, (4) Karen Carigo, (5) Jaina Jabel, (6) Marielle Cuanan; and a pit stop by yours truly. Specifics about the individual games will be within my groupmates’ written reports (though I am sure that they were all related to algebra). My part was supposed to be a mobile or hidden pit stop, but due to an unexpected need to safeguard everyone’s belongings I just sat inside the classroom… yup, my job was to sit and wait while everyone had fun with their games. The group that arrived first was Computers followed by Number Systems, Geometry then Statistics.

             “We” then proceeded to tally the scores of the participants as they left. The overall score would comprised of 80% from the sum 6 game scores and 20% from the placement score. I think it is extremely boring to narrate computations and such so I’ll just provide a table:

Stations	Groups
	Statistics	Number Systems	Geometry	Computer
1	8	5	6	6
2	10	10	10	10
3	8	10	5	7
4	8	10	10	10
5	5	5	9	5
6	10	10	10	10
Total (Max: 55)	49	50	50	48
80%	71.27	72.73	72.73	69.82
Pit stop (Max: 20)	5	15	10	20
20%	5	15	10	20
TOTAL	76.27	87.73	82.73	89.82
RANKING	4	2	3	1

And again… Computers won (announced the next day)

February 7, 2014 – Everything Else Day

The first activity was the informal debate, which are usually boring, so we did everything we could to “liven” it up… though that has its limits if your debate is about algebra. The only thing we could do was make it more argumentative via scripted impromptu-like interjections. The debate specifically focused on the question: “Which mathematical perspective should be prioritized in secondary to college level education: the operational or the conceptual approach?”.

The initial votes were taken after a brief introduction, 8 for conceptual and 7 for operational. It started with the placement of foundational knowledge and enumeration of the main points for both sides by their respective PMs. Our side emphasized simplicity, practicality and uniformity. I was the deputy for the government side, responsible for the rebuttal against the opposing PM and the defense for my PM. I mainly talked about how operational math has led to advances in other fields such as physics, chemistry  and engineering through the integration of mathematical equations from separate fields. I especially enjoyed the “I respectfully disagree” statement. The opposition countered with the belief that math is inherently conceptual, general, transposable and independent of equations or formulae. The audience seemed to relate to the topic, their reactions and quiet discussion could easily be noticed, especially during the “heated argument”. In the end, we lost with 1 against 13 votes.

After the debate was a  ~10 min video presentation. The making of which was very difficult due to conflicts in schedule and the overall embarrassment of making a parody video. I characterized the video as a “dramatic” comedy since it is a parody of a somewhat serious show but with the addition of consumers’ mathematics and a little bit of our own biology-yness (as in the course not the subject). I played the role of myself as the poor depressed… um… participant? Zam was Kuya Kim, Nykka was Doris Bigornia, Karen was the bank person and the scientist was Jaina.

The story starts with Doris’ introduction then meeting with me, followed by Kuya Kims’ intervention. Kuya Kim helped me apply for a bank loan  for capital for a soap-making business, also suggested by Kuya Kim. With the help of ascientist and random specimens from the zoo lab, “Kalapati Whitening Soap” was made (parody of Dove). Funny Testimonies and an advertisement were also shown (mainly cameos). The student was eventually able to pay his loan and tuition. The film prioritized making the concepts of income, interest and capital relatable to the viewers.

To finish the time, we had a pass the message variant using equations. The equations were mainly factorization and simplification problems. This time Geometry won with 3 points followed by Number Systems, Computers then Statistics.

February 14, 2014 (4am) – Deadline

Thinking back, it was actually enjoyable to do those high school-like activities. Though it took a lot of effort it wasn’t as stressful as normal college work. I even learned new things especially during the debate. I didn’t even know about the battle between operational and conceptual perspectives, I just took it for granted. Who would’ve thought that people actually fought about things like this? But during the debate I realized that the argument really had a point… until now I’m still having an internal debate on which is better. I also have a better appreciation about the mathematics of banking. I tried researching to get a more accurate depiction for the video, but I failed. It was difficult to actually apply bank technicalities to basic scenarios. I barely understood it, so applying it was out of the question.

To Conclude… YES! TAPOS NA!