LO6: Demonstrate engagement with issues of global significance.

Who are we? 

We are 5 UWCSEA East students who have assimilated due to a commonality of having observed a lack of diversity in mathematics at our school in some way, shape or form. Specifically, we have observed two layers of the diversity issue, which we have chosen to centre a conference around: 

1. The gender, ethnicity and age imbalance is prevalent in a majority of the mathematical social groups in our school. 
2. The lack of awareness about the diverse range of applications for the mathematics taught in school may demotivate students from actively engaging with the subject in classrooms. 

To create a change in the fundamental approaches to mathematics as a subject, it calls for a cultural shift that reframes it in a new light right from the get-go. As such, our mission outlines objectives that we use to guide our plan for impact and how we build our community to best make it accessible to students. 

Mission: 

The CDM conference aims to create an inclusive and encouraging platform for younger students who are still developing their passion for mathematic activities to explore and have the opportunity to build their confidence, initiate the development of skills, and expand their knowledge on the applications of math, all under the support and mentorship of role models in the mathematical community across the world. 

The 2021 Conference

On the Saturday morning of June 5th 2021, we put together and facilitated a virtual conference consisting of 35 participants, called The Community of Diverse Mathematicians (CDM).

We had three workshops organised on the topics of Probability and Statistics, Artificial Intelligence and Geometry in Origami, where students were given the opportunity to learn from field experts in an interactive session filled with problem-solving exercises and critical-thinking discussions. With the hope of having sparked a new line of interest among the students, they were also provided with resources on how to further their involvement on the respective topic outside of the workshop.

One of the main strengths that were seen in this conference was the engagement the students had right from the beginning. They were willing to be proactive in answering questions from the speaker and engage in discussions with their peers irrespective of differences in age. Evident from the positive feedback we received, students thoroughly enjoyed the collaborative element and even suggested extending this time for conversation in the future. Other suggestions included ramping up the difficulty of some concepts explored, in order to push themselves outside their comfort zone and inquire further into their new-known found interest. Hopefully, through an in-person conference next year, the speakers can tailor their content and advice by having one-on-one conversations with the students. 

To further widen the scope of our impact and reach, we are also strongly considering adding a competitive element where they have the opportunity to apply the skills and concepts they learn from the workshops. This will also allow students to engage in much more in-depth collaboration and critical thinking with their peers and may even result in the ideation of promising ideas that could be pursued as a project further. Another key element that we wanted to focus more on is creating a sophisticated networking system for UWC East students, starting from Middle School, to support them in finding others with similar interests to embark on self-initiated projects and exploration related to STEM.

To execute these new ideas and plans, we also plan to increase our team capacity so that this one-time event can be transformed into a year-round movement that can be a valuable platform for students throughout the year. 

We are all extremely excited to welcome even more people into the Community of Diverse Mathematicians and propel a culture shift in UWCSEA East. 

Contact Details: Feel free to reach out to us anytime through our social media handles listed below!

Instagram: diverse.uwce

Email: diversemath.uwce@gmail.com