The Quizbowl Resource Center

Statement A is not a fact about reality.

I can't agree that conceptual knowledge of mathematics is more meaningful than any actual application of those concepts. The applications are facts or models of facts about reality, or at least can be so, although I recognize that computation questions are sometimes posed without any real-world cont...

Walker, here is another thing you should read. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy_of_mathematics I'd like to know exactly which school you adhere to. It seems like you currently have the view of formalism, like David Hilbert. Then again, I am not a philosopher so I could be totally wrong. Actu...

Math computation questions do often test who can solve a given problem the quickest. However, the assertion that ability to perform math efficiently and quickly somehow does not reflect mathematical knowledge seems a bit absurd. If (deeper (as regards the specific topic(s) covered by the problem)) ...

Touko Kettunen wrote:Ancient Greece already happened.

I'm sensing a distinct lack of argument for how math is now somehow divorced from its purposes, just an argument that "oh, so-di-so was discovered/invented a while back."

I'm sympathetic to the notion that computation demonstrates a mathematical understanding outside of what quizbowl usually tests (a position I once erroneously held) and we can get into a protracted discussion of the purpose or role of mathematics (which itself may be a question wrongly asked), but ...

The real bedrock of mathematics and mathematical understanding isn't computation it's the theorems. It's infinitely more important for a budding mathematician to be able to connect concepts and prove theorems than it is to be able to quickly compute integrals, derivatives, etc.. The only reason mat...

If (deeper (as regards the specific topic(s) covered by the problem)) mathematical knowledge is NOT the basis of (greater) computational ability, what is? Yeah, this is faulty. Computational ability does not require a high level of understanding! If I know how to differentiate using the limit-based...

Math computation questions do often test who can solve a given problem the quickest. However, the assertion that ability to perform math efficiently and quickly somehow does not reflect mathematical knowledge seems a bit absurd. If (deeper (as regards the specific topic(s) covered by the problem)) m...

Knowing that the derivative is the rate of change is helpful if, and only if, you can successfully apply that concept. While you can't very well apply a concept you don't know, a mathematical concept which you can't apply correctly is a nice meaningless fact.

Conceptual physics questions are, I'll agree, less trivial, as they still test meaningful, if less exact, knowledge of what will happen in a given circumstance. Conceptual mathematics questions, though, are purely trivial in almost all cases. Knowing a concept but having no clue how to apply it is p...

High school quizbowl has moved towards including more conceptual math as time goes on, which is an increase in focus on mathematics. Mathematics is essential (and accessible), and quizbowl agrees with you (else we wouldn't be moving this way). However, conceptual math is much better at testing whet...

There have been plenty of arguments made as to why computational math is a poor topic for quiz bowl. That said, being able to do math is essential to a wide range of other studies. For that reason, mathematics are a major chunk of any child's education, and rightly so. To leave such essential (and i...

Buckhorn had a very good squad this year, but probably decided they'd rather go to DC than to Chicago, since this may well be the first time they've taken a team to a national tourney. I'll not speak to why we went where we did and played in the tournament we played in, but I will say that this was...

One teensy little correction: I would not particularly describe Tessa as having been our science person. Picking one thing in particular to label her as knowing is pretty tough, though; as you may have noticed, she knows a large chunk of everything.


User was reminded to enable a signature--Staff