One of my first tastes of competition math was in second grade when the entire class took the CML, or Continental Math League. I could only hear squeaking chairs and pencil scratches for 30 minutes as everyone worked to find solutions to new math questions. More recently, I took the Mathcounts competition. I sat puzzling over a problem with bricks when going over a practice test, drawing lines and dots everywhere with little numbers. And then it clicked. It was a counting problem, but one involving Pascal’s Triangle, not multiplying options at each step. I relished in the moments when I finally figured out the answer, but I had always felt that my school math was far more boring, and that I did not always have people to talk to about math in the world of competitions and about the fun strategies I loved. For that reason, schools should implement more competition math into the curriculum.

Using competition math allows students to think creatively and use problem solving rather than only conventionally taught formulas and processes. Competition math often includes problems which have many different ways to go about solving them, one type often tedious while the others are hidden in murky waters, but quick and simple to use. It contrasts to what is often curated application of formulas, and as Richard Rusczyk, creator of Art of Problem Solving says, “true mathematics is not a process of memorizing formulas and applying them to problems tailor-made for those formulas”. Competition math offers room for mistakes and careful analysis of the problem, room for testing possibilities like I did with the bricks. Because there are also many different correct strategies, this encourages discussion amongst students, which can also help them learn. Discussion and experimentation both help students develop essential problem-solving skills and allow them to be creative in math.

Some people may think that teaching more competition math will lead to straying away from standard curriculum and practice. This may be because competition math problems are not made to only train one concept, such as the quadratic formula, but rather use bits and pieces from different aspects of math. However, this does not mean that competition math is not a worthwhile addition. Competition math problems can serve as application practice for a concept and allows the student to see different ways a strategy can be used. This variety can often help a student better grasp a topic. In addition, this will also prevent students from only memorizing formulas and concepts because they cannot be directly applied. Implementing some competition math does not have to take away from learning curriculum math and can serve as useful and insightful practice. 

Finally, competition math can be much more fun for students than normal curriculum-based math. This is in part because of the frustration one must go through to finally find both the right answer and a right method. The process of thinking, rethinking, and erasing only adds to the joy one experiences when they finally figure out the problem. Especially for students who find math boring, competition math adds excitement. For students who understand everything being taught in the curriculum, finally facing a challenge will make them more engaged and catch their interest. On the other hand, students who cannot quite grasp the content are able to discuss and see different ways of using a concept which will also re-engage them into the scene.

Ultimately, the skills acquired through working on competition math problems are useful both in math and other critical thinking endeavors, so competition math is a worthwhile addition to the current math curriculum. Competition math lets students come up with clever solutions and methods and thus helps them develop problem solving skills. Rather than taking away from required learning, it can actually enrich a student’s learning experience, and finally, it can often be more for students to solve competition math problems. As I have continued my journey through competitions, I have met others who share the joy in learning and thinking critically about math, and I hope more people can discover in school that math can be more than applying formulas and continuous arithmetic. 

References:

Rusczyk, Richard. “Why It’s So Important To Learn A Problem-Solving Approach To Mathematics.” Art of Problem Solving, artofproblemsolving.com/blog/articles/learn-problem-solving-approach-to-mathematics. Accessed 18 June 2022.