Below you can read the announcement of the Didactics group of the Rényi Alfréd Institute of Mathematics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, dated January of 2017.
In our experimental program we are aiming to find 9th grade students who are talented in the field of mathematics, but have not yet had a chance to develop their skills during their education.
The experiment consists of two parts. In the spring semester of 2017 our goal is to visit a large number of schools and teach mathematics in a manner that is different from the usual, involving as many interested students as possible — not necessarily just the ones that are particularly talented.
In the second part of the program we will organize an intense, two year long series of courses for the students who we have managed to reach, starting from autumn 2017.
Mathematics has a playful, as well as a thought-provoking side. Unfortunately, in high school education there is not enough time and energy to explore these. We believe that this can be useful and enjoyable for everyone, and therefore it is our goal to introduce as many students as possible to beautiful and entertaining mathematics, the joy of independent thought.
Motivation
Students talented in mathematics who would like to develop their talents, fortunately have many opportunities in Hungary to do so. Nevertheless, those competing at national competitions or at the mathematical olympiad come from a relatively small circle of students. In our opinion the development of talented students is determined by their choice of high school (more on this near the end of the appeal). For many students, their talent in mathematics is never recognized, or even if it is, they do not find a place where they could develop.
In our present experiment we would like to get a wider and more thorough understanding of the issue outlined above. Moreover, we would like to provide the necessary means for talented students to develop their skills.
Visiting the schools
We think it is important that we develop a personal relationship with as many students as we can. In the spring of 2017 we give a morning course at each school that is interested in our program. During these, students will be introduced to playful mathematical problems, intended at stimulating their curiosity.
The goal of these courses, apart from getting into contact with talented students, is to show the beautiful and entertaining side of mathematics. Therefore, in putting together these courses we pay attention to making them enjoyable not just for talented students, but also those interested students who have only average abilities.
The length of a course is the same as 3 school lectures. The programs take place on weekdays, during school hours. The precise details are arranged with each school separately. The number of participants is at least 8 and at most 30 people.
The application has already closed, the list of schools that have applied for the program can be found at the following link.
Two year long training
In the schools we visit during our planned program, we meet many students. Our hope is that many of them will be talented and interested. For them, we would like to provide a two year long training that will contribute to the development of their mathematical skills.
For interested students — if they complete certain entry requirements — we provide the opportunity to attend a two year long program, starting in the fall of 2017. According to our plans, the sessions of the program will take place once a month, on a weekday, and each one will last an entire day. The courses will be hosted by the Eotvos Jozsef Collegium of Eotvos Lorand University; you can read more about the institute at the end of the appeal.
We would like to emphasize the experimental nature of our planned program. It is possible that we will have to modify our plans as we go along, based on future experiences.
Our most important goal is to try to teach children to think. In other words, what we are trying to achieve is that they do not search for formulae, pre-learned methods, theorems to be used in their heads, but instead to let their imaginations run free, to bravely come up with new ideas, to think creatively.
The teachers who teach these courses are not giving lectures, neither are they planting further factual knowledge, going beyond standard school curriculum, into the students’ heads. We are aiming at teaching courses that the students can actively engage with, such that they are not merely passive participants, but take part actively and can even change the shape of the course. The latter means that the teacher adapts to the abilities and interests of the group during the course, and interesting questions formulated by the students can become part of the set of problems to be solved.
On top of all of these, we think it is very important to have a good atmosphere during the courses, and that the students enjoy taking part in them. We hope that their development will also be reflected in their results at mathematics competitions, but training students for such competitions directly is not our goal.
Between courses we expect regular and thorough work at home from the participants, since this is the only way to ensure that the program will be useful for them.
Individual recommendation
Occasionally there are some talented students at a school who they would like to recommend, however not enough interested ones to justify an event.
The entry conditions into the two-year program require a student to participate at an event organized at a school in spring. The involved schools have the opportunity to make their events public, the details of which can be found on our website. We organize 3 programs at Eötvös College of which one can choose the most suitable one.
A further requirement for individual participation is a recommendation written by the student’s math teacher on the application platform.
Who are we looking for?
Our resources allow us to only work with students of one school year. Therefore, we are only looking for 9th grade applicants (including those completing a language preparatory year.)
Our most important aim is to broaden the circle of secondary school students who engage in mathematical activities. For this reason, we have to limit the group of eligible applicants to those who otherwise do not have the means to do so. As a result, we disallow the application of students who fall into the following categories:
- Attending a school that offers a special mathematics class.
- Attending a school ranked among the top 10 either in the list of schools in Budapest or those outside of the capital.
- Attending the weekend camps organized by The Joy of Thinking Foundation.
(Naturally we also exclude the schools from our programs were the above criteria apply.)
Application
Schools can apply via the following link.
We would like to make application available in several rounds, according to our resources. The deadline for the first round is :
The programs start , at their earliest. It is possible that we will not have enough time to visit all the schools that apply; in this case we will consider the order of applications chronologically. In case of a massive overapplication it is conceivable we might organize more central events so that as many students as possible may attend.
If organizing a program at a school is not possible, teachers may recommend students individually via this link.
Appendix
[toggle title_open=”List of schools excluded from application” title_closed=”List of schools excluded from application”]- Békásmegyeri Veres Péter Gimnázium (Budapest)
- Berzsenyi Dániel Gimnázium (Budapest)
- Budapest I. Kerületi Toldy Ferenc Gimnázium
- Budapest V. Kerületi Eötvös József Gimnázium
- Budapest XIV. Kerületi Szent István Gimnázium
- Budapesti Fazekas Mihály Gyakorló Általános Iskola és Gimnázium
- Budaörsi Illyés Gyula Gimnázium és Közgazdasági Szakközépiskola
- Debreceni Egyetem Kossuth Lajos Gyakorló Gimnáziuma
- Debreceni Fazekas Mihály Gimnázium
- ELTE Apáczai Csere János Gyakorló Gimnázium és Kollégium (Budapest)
- ELTE Radnóti Miklós Gyakorló Általános Iskola és Gyakorló Gimnázium (Budapest)
- ELTE Trefort Ágoston Gyakorló Gimnázium (Budapest)
- Földes Ferenc Gimnázium (Miskolc)
- Karinthy Frigyes Gimnázium (Budapest)
- Kazinczy Ferenc Gimnázium és Kollégium (Győr)
- Lovassy László Gimnázium (Veszprém)
- Miskolci Herman Ottó Gimnázium
- Nyíregyházi Krúdy Gyula Gimnázium
- Nyugat-magyarországi Egyetem Bolyai János Gyakorló Általános Iskola és Gimnázium (Szombathely)
- Óbudai Árpád Gimnázium
- Révai Miklós Gimnázium és Kollégium (Győr)
- Szegedi Radnóti Miklós Kísérleti Gimnázium
- Székesfehérvári Teleki Blanka Gimnázium és Általános Iskola
- SZTE Gyakorló Gimnázium és Általános Iskola (Szeged)
- Városmajori Gimnázium és Kós Károly Általános Iskola (Budapest)
- Verseghy Ferenc Gimnázium (Szolnok)
- Zalaegerszegi Zrínyi Miklós Gimnázium