Math (Un)Fair Reflection

What Worked Well
This Math Fair activity really impressed me. Almost all the students I met were engaged in and were willing to explain the reasons why their activities were fair or unfair. I think this Math Fair event seemed to be a big success. First of all, I believe this event helped students develop the interests of math learning. Students were divided into different groups and they designed their own games. In this way, students could choose the topics they liked and made their own signboards and other required materials. The process of learning math became a joyful journey. Students could develop their understanding of probability through the interaction with their participants. At the same time, they also had chances to take part in other groups’ activities and learn from that. Secondly, I think because students needed to explain the probability theories behind their activities, they got the chances to be “teachers’. I found majority of students were willing to explain the reasons and felt excited about this. And their explanations required them to do some “homework” to make sure they could understand those probability theories first. In this way, I think students developed positive motivations which ensures that they acquired knowledge and skills in a meaningful way and help them engage in deep learning. All in all, I think almost all the students were deeply involved in those activities and really enjoyed the learning process.  That’s why I think this Math Fair event was very successful and effective.

What Could Be Improved

Firstly, I found some students looked tired when they need to explain again and again. As a result, some of them just let us see the calculations they did instead of explaining to us. I think we could set up those activities into Round 1 and Round 2. Probably students could switch in every 30 minutes. In this way, students could have a break and have time to try other groups’ activities as well. Secondly, I think some students were not sure about their explanations or did not know how to explain their ideas mathematically. If teachers could give students a practicing presentation chance and help them improve somewhere, then students may feel more confident about their topics. 

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