Raising A Mathematician Program Report

8/12/2019 Raising A Mathematician Program Report

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Raising A Mathematician

Raising A Mathematician Foundation

Uttan Vividh Lakshyee Shikshan Sanstha&

organized by

Training Program

A brief report of



Objective of Raising A Mathematician Training Program

(RAM TP)

To search and mentor young Mathematical talent (age group 13 -15)in the country. Guide them to hone their skills and thinking by giving

them the right tools, and create a research-mentality in mathematics.

About RAM TP 2014

A 6-day National-level residential camp was conducted at Ram Ratna

Vidyamandir, Uttan, Mumbai from 5th – 10th May 2014, in joint

collaboration with Uttan Vividh Lakshyee Shikshan Sansthan for

students of 13 – 15 years who are exceptionally talented in

Mathematics. During the course of the program, the participants

were given exposure to fundamental as well as higher-level

mathematics along with the guidance and approach to dive deeper

into some topics in Mathematics from a different perspective. RAMTP was a fully-funded program offered at free of cost to the students.

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Selection Procedure

Out of 400 applications received from thirteen states all over India,

105 applications were selected in February 2014. The selectionprocedure was based on Students' Application Form, Teachers’

Recommendation Form and Parents' Form where the participant's

inclination towards mathematics and their career objectives were

assessed.

Program Schedule and Pedagogy

A normal day at RAM TP would start at 7:15 am with a meditation

session, followed by seven hours of classroom sessions with

adequate breaks, after-session discussions and end at 10 pm with

games based on analytical and lateral-thinking. The classroom

sessions were more interactive in nature unlike the normal teaching

method adopted in classes. The participants were encouraged to ask

questions and find out the reasons behind every statement, proofs

and derivation of different formulae, and discover something new

based on what they had learnt. It was observed that the children

loved the idea of discovering and proving things which they had not

done earlier. The conventional, routine method of learning focuses

on the use of formula for problem-solving without understanding theway the formula has come up, the need by which it was derived. The

exams concentrate on problem-solving and hence there is a lack of

motivation among the students to dwell deep into concepts even if

they want to. One of the ideas of RAM TP was to break the idea of

exam-oriented learning and encourage students to understand the

concepts and find their applications in real-life situations. In short,the objective was to enable them to discover knowledge rather than

imparting information to them.

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Topics Covered

Geometry and Trigonometry with special reference to ancient Indian

mathematics and astronomy, Co-ordinate Geometry and Straight lines

with its application in Economics, Number Theory with discussions on

various works by famous Number Theorists, Averages and Dispersion

with special mention to sports, Correlation and Regression with special

mention to Analytics, Progressions (discovering new series), Equations

with special reference of solving linear and quadratic indeterminate

equations, Combinatorics from Chandas shastra (2300 years old) and its

application in modern day computer programming, Sets, Relations and

Functions, Introduction to Calculus, Logarithms, Introduction to

Financial Mathematics and Stock Market. The participants were also

given a book 'What is Mathematics' which explains various branches of

Mathematics in great detail. The participants have started doing

research in topics like Number Theory, Combinatorics, and so on, andalso writing computer programs for validating the results obtained. The

projects will be continuously monitored by the faculties and good

projects will be sent for presentations and exhibits in National

Conferences on Mathematics.

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Faculty and invited speakers

The three main faculties of the program were Prof. Mandar

Bhanushe, R. Hariharan and Vinay Nair. Apart from the normal

lectures, everyday would witness an invited speaker. Prof. Sharad

Sane from IIT Bombay inaugurated the camp and lectured on

research in Mathematics. Prof. Mohan Apte delivered on

Bhaskaracharya-II and his contributions to Mathematics. Prof.

Ambuja Salgaonkar (HOD Computer Science department,

University of Mumbai) explained the use of Katapayadi (ancient Indian

coding system) and its application in cryptography. Bharat Karmarkar

delivered two sessions on explorative learning in mathematics.

Riddhi Shah gave an overview of educational system in the rural areas,

cultural imbalance in India and pursuing non-conventional careers in

Mathematics. Kanishka Khatri, guest lecturer for IT in Mumbai

University and Raheja College, did a session through activities andgames for improving left-brain and right-brain thinking, and out-of-

the-box thinking. R Hariharan gave a lecture on career options in

Applied Mathematics. The valedictory session was chaired by Dr.

Vasudha Kamat, Hon. Vice Chancellor, SNDT University.



Outcome

The program being residential

gave the part ic ipants anopportunity to bond well with

each other and staying away

from the rest of the world (and

electronic gadgets) gave a

chance to discuss mathematics

round the c lock. I t wasobserved that many of the

participants had got a research-

mentality in mathematics and are planning to take up a career related

to mathematics.

Future plans

Usually after such programs participants are very inspired for some

time but the inspiration dies out in due course of time. To avoid this

situation, RAM TP does not stop with the 6-day residential program.

The students would be in touch with the faculties throughout the

year by participating in online discussion forums, submitting their

research-projects online through Moodle, and forming discussiongroups (already started in Mumbai) where they will come together

every day during vacations and weekly once thereafter, to discuss on

Mathematics. The participants will also be encouraged to present

papers, exhibits and participate in National Conferences on

Mathematics.

The success of the program will be measured after ten years. Duringthe period of ten years, the candidates will be monitored and

mentored by the faculties.

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About us

Raising A Mathematician Foundation is a Charitable Organisationregistered under Bombay Public Trust Act, 1950. Few of the objectives of

RAM Foundation are:

1. To create an interest, awareness and develop research attitude in

the field of Mathematics and allied areas.

2. To conduct national and international conferences, camps,workshops, training programs, seminars, competitions, courses,

e-learning classes on Mathematics.

3. To provide scholarship and any other assistance to the needy

students and educational institutions.

4. To provide merit reward and achievement awards to students orpeople in the field of Mathematics.

5. To felicitate people for their contribution in the field of

Mathematics or Mathematics education.

6. To publish books related to Mathematics or Mathematics

education or allied areas.

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Contact us

Website: www.raisingamathematician.comraisingamathematician@gmail.comEmail:

Our Supporters

Uttan Vividh Lakshyee Shikshan Sanstha, FEI Cargo, Thane Janata Sahakari Bank,

Dombivli Nagri Sahakari Bank, a lot of large-hearted individuals who loved the idea of

RAM TP and a team of dedicated volunteers from diverse backgrounds.

Raising A Mathematician Program Report

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