Crunching numbers for fun

Year 10 students from around Geelong and the Western District went head to head crunching numbers at Deakin’s Maths competition held at the Geelong Campus at Waurn Ponds recently. Around 200 students attended the annual competition which saw them competing in a range of individual and group based activities throughout the day, designed to create interest in further pursuits of Mathematics.

Co-organiser Michelle Cyganowski said the event is an important way to change the perception that many students have of maths. “Sometimes students have the perception that people that do maths are a bit nerdy. The various contest activities show students different applications of maths and that it is possible to be creative and have fun with maths.”

The event also provides an opportunity to show students the variety of careers available from studying maths and encourages students to go on to study maths at tertiary level. “We hope to encourage the students to go on and study maths at University which can be taken as part of engineering and IT courses. It is important to get students excited about maths and consider future careers in this area as there are shortages of graduates with mathematical skills across a range of industries. Students often think that if they take maths the only option for them will be a career as an engineer or actuary. We show them maths is used in such a variety of jobs and that maths opens up so many opportunities for them.”

Having a wide range of schools participating in the competition provides an excellent opportunity for both students and teachers to get together and exchange ideas on the learning and teaching of mathematics. With Deakin hosting the competition, it also provides students with an opportunity to walk around the campus and see what a university looks like as many of the students have never been to a university before.