BEREA, Ohio — Math camp sounds like work, but at Baldwin Wallace University this summer, it's all about playing games. Throughout the week-long program, these high school students played Tic-Tac-Toe, NIM, a contest of strategy, as well as other board games at BW's first ever Game Theory Camp.
“It’s just bringing the joy and playfulness back to mathematics," explains Kate Lane, Associate Professor at Baldwin Wallace University.
"The idea is twofold. One, to explore what math lies underneath a lot of these games and two, to articulate a winning strategy which is fundamental to proofs that you would have in math," said Lane.
For example - take this game called Skunk. Players push the odds with every roll of the dice to gain points or lose them all. Different strategies spark debate, and laughs too as students discover the math hidden within the games.
"They are so good at this,” remarked Baldwin Wallace Professor of Mathematics Melissa Dennison. “They've exceeded our expectations every day, you know, solving these games and coming up with interesting new ideas and perspectives that we've never thought of."
"One kid left yesterday saying my brain is fried. So, I think that's a good thing," stated Lane.
Different ways of presenting math helps students gain confidence, and re-train their brains.
"A lot of math has been kind of prescribed for them, and they get more freedom and creativity here and that they can see that they can do this and they can be independent and solve things," said Dennison.
These STEM summer camps have turned out to be a winning strategy for Baldwin Wallace.
"Being our first year, we've actually had a wonderful response,” said Lauren Scotta, the Director of Community STEM Initiatives at Baldwin Wallace University. “We've had great family feedback from it. They're excited to come back next year and we already are starting to program some different opportunities throughout the fall and spring season."
Again, this is the first year Baldwin Wallace has offered STEM summer camps like NASA Astro Camp, Youth Cyber Camp, and math camps spanning from 3rd grade to high school. The goal is to expose students to STEM now to build their confidence for the future.