Sixteen Penn State Lehigh Valley students participated in the first-ever Math Bowl, a quiz-style competition featuring questions in four areas of mathematics.
CENTER VALLEY, Pa. — Sixteen Penn State Lehigh Valley (PSU-LV) students engaged in some friendly competition and showed off their knowledge in four areas of mathematics during PSU-LV’s inaugural Math Bowl competition. The event was sponsored by PSU-LV’s STEM Club. Daniela Fernandez, STEM Club president, served as moderator.
“Over winter break we brainstormed ideas for the STEM Club. Many of the activities we suggested were competitive or challenge-based. The Math Bowl was the first one,” Fernandez said.
The students were split into four teams and answered 28 questions in pre-algebra, algebra, pre-calculus and calculus. Teams were given a problem in one of the categories and had between one minute and 90 seconds to come up with the answer. Participants agreed the event was fun, but undoubtedly tested their math knowledge.
Farishta Faruk, a second-year biology major, decided to compete because she thought it would be a fun way to see what she remembered from her math classes.
“One of my favorite subjects is math. Even though I’ve had algebra and pre-algebra and am now in pre-calculus, the questions were still tough," she said. "I thought it was going to be hard, but when I was doing it, it was definitely difficult. There were definitely gaps in what I remembered!”
Second-year biology major Aesha Patel said the event appealed to her competitive side, so she decided to participate.
“I did better than I expected — I came in second overall. It was fun, but it was hard,” Patel said, adding that she would compete in a future event. “It was a fun bonding experience for my team. I picked my group, so we worked well together. It was a good experience in terms of competition, and we got to have fun.”
James Misiti, a sophomore mechanical engineering major, was the first-place overall scorer.
“I think the range of questions was good, so even students who hadn’t had the higher-level math classes could still compete,” he said. “I would like to see more higher-level calculus questions, but that wouldn’t be ‘other major-friendly,’ so I thought this event had a good mix.”
The team comprised of Tiffari Harry, Trong Nguyen, James Lee, and Chris Li had the most accumulated individual points and took First Place. Individually, Misiti came in first, Patel, second, and Chris Li took third.
Maryam Kiani, associate teaching professor of mathematics, said the event was a way to get students more engaged with math.
“I think mathematics education is a little boring for students. Learning should be fun and easy, which is why I try to think of different events," Kiani said. "The STEM Club is run by the students but managed by me. One thing I thought of was a math competition as a way for students to evaluate themselves — see what they know and how much they need to know.”
Kiani was pleased with the event overall.
“It was very well-received," Kiani said. "This was the first one for our campus, and it was very good to, first of all, do something regarding mathematics, then gather the students, then show them that learning can be fun.”
Kiani also praised Fernandez’s can-do attitude and work ethic: “Daniela is really an asset for me — she is so helpful. She’s very good with planning — I can just give her an idea and she runs with it."
Kiani and the STEM Club members are already planning for next year.
“My goal is to make it an annual event, and maybe make it larger — maybe bring in other colleges from the area," Kiani said. "My whole purpose is to make a connection between human and mathematics, and to humanize STEM education, especially mathematics. That’s the reason I want students to have fun and laugh while they’re learning. I think this event proved you can have fun while learning — one question was similar to something one of the teams had learned in class that day. When we enjoy, we learn. Math is seen as boring or abstract — if I can make that human connection, I’ll be super happy.”
Fernandez, too, is thinking about making future events on a larger scale.
“This could be held every year, or maybe once a semester depending on student interest. I think it would be fun to expand it into other subjects, like biology or chemistry," Fernandez said. "The goal of the STEM Club is to bring together students who are pursuing STEM careers, and bring activities to campus for students, like friendly challenges, and can spark ideas. We’d love to have more students come to our events and activities. Many of our students are 2+2 majors, and we’d love to see them get engaged and enjoy the activities we provide for them.”
