Mathematical Modelling Competition for Secondary Students (MMCSS) Junior Secondary, 2022
Mathematical Modelling Competition for Secondary Students (MMCSS)
Junior Secondary, 2022
I. The Competition
The “Mathematical Modelling Competition for Secondary Students” (hereinafter as “the Competition” or “MMCSS”) is commissioned by the Education Bureau HKSAR. The Competition is an independent contest as a part of the Programme on “Promoting Mathematical Modelling for Teachers and Students in Secondary School”. It is not a part or selection procedure of the International Mathematical Modelling Challenge.
In the competition, students are required to demonstrate their understanding in Mathematical Modelling and applications of Mathematics in solving a problem based on real-life scenario.
II. Eligibility
To participate in the Competition, participants must be having attended a 3-hour Student Workshop of the Programme “Promoting Mathematical Modelling for Students in Secondary Schools” on 4, 11 or 25 June 2022.
Each team consists of 3-4 secondary school students, enrolled in the same school. There must be at least 1 teacher from that school as an advisor.
Each school can register not more than 1 team of Junior students and 1 team of Senior students in the Competition only. Junior students refer to S1-S3 students and Senior students refers to S4-S6 students in local secondary schools.
III. Schedule and Registration
Junior Secondary Students | |
Registration Period | 08:00 6-Jul-2022 to 08:00 15-Jul-2022 |
Competition Period | 08:00 15-Jul-2022 to 08:00 20-Jul-2022 |
The competition questions can be obtained from the IMMC contest system | |
Submission of Solution Paper | By 10:00 20-Jul-2022 |
The solution paper should be submitted to the IMMC contest system | |
Interview and Awards Ceremony | 09:00-13:00 23-Jul-2022 LT4, 2/F, Yasumoto International Academic Park The Chinese University of Hong Kong (From Exit D of the University Station, go straight and cross the zebra crossing.) |
Click here for registering the MMCSS of Junior Secondary
(http://istem.info/web/activity_apply.php?activityid=97 )
If it is the first time for the team to use IMMC contest system, the team needs to sign up first (http://istem.info/web/retrieve.php). A guide for using IMMC contest system is shown in part IV.
IV. A Guide for Participation in MMCSS
1. Before the competition
1) Sign up on the IMMC website
Before starting registration for the competition, the participating student needs to have an IMMC account by clicking sign up first (http://istem.info/web/retrieve.php).
Then use the SIGN UP button to get started.
2) Registration for the competition
Click here for registering the MMCSS of Junior Secondary
(http://istem.info/web/activity_apply.php?activityid=97 ) , or
Click here for registering the MMCSS of Senior Secondary
(http://istem.info/web/activity_apply.php?activityid=98)
After filling in and verify a valid email address as account username, you will receive a verification email inviting you to register:
– Fill in the basic information of all advisor teachers and students of the team
– After submission, you will receive a confirmation email with your teams’ Control Number;
3) Download Control Sheet.
Log in the competition system (http://istem.info/web/login.php ) Click EVENTS – Choose event/competition you have registered – Click Paper to download the Control Sheet of your team. (The event’s link will be invalid during the contest. So, if you want to download the control sheet during the contest, please follow the alternative step as shown in next part.)
2. During the competition
1) Download the question paper.
Log in the competition system (http://istem.info/web/login.php );
Click My registration – Click Paper – Click Problem download to download the question paper;
2) Fill in the Control Sheet
The advisor shall ensure that each member of the team (including the advisor) signs the Control Sheet, pledging that they have abided by the contest rules and instructions;
Please submit the completed Control Sheet together with an electronic copy of the solution paper through the IMMC system.
3) Submit the Solution Paper
Name your Solution Paper and Control Sheet with your team’s Control Number only;
Log in the competition system (http://istem.info/web/login.php ); click My registration – Click Paper to submit the paper and control sheet;
IMMC will accept only a PDF file as the paper. Please compress your documents into one ZIP file if you have attachment files. The zipped document size should be less than 17MB. Please upload your Control Sheet before submitting the paper.
3. Presentation:
All participating teams who have submitted the solution paper can make presentations on the interview day at the lecture venue and receive awards of certificates.
Instructions and Rules
There are several steps that a team advisor must go through before, during and after the contest as described in Part I as above. Please read this part's instructions and rules carefully and ensure to complete all the procedures involved. It is the teacher advisor's responsibility to make sure that the team will follow all steps required for participation in MMCSS.
Contest Rules
1. Teams who work on the Contest Problem must complete and submit the solution paper within required consecutive hours (5 days) at the assigned period of time. Teams must complete and submit their solution paper of modelling on or before the deadline of the contest. Solution papers will be adjudicated by Expert Panel of Judges.
2. Registration process, downloading problem / control sheet and uploading papers/materials for participation in the contest event should be performed on the online contest system: Log in the competition system (http://istem.info/web/login.php ). Teams who participate first time have to sign up to the system to create their account with username (valid email address) and password. By logging in with the email address and password, the team can register for the ongoing contest under the “Event” column. Successful registration will grant the team a Control Number for the chosen contest. (Note: Signatures of parents/guardians is not required on the control sheet; but their names must be filled. The teacher advisor is required to sign off the control sheet with authorisation by and on behalf of parents/guardians.)
3. The contest problem can be downloaded by logging into the IMMC contest system after the start of the competition.
4. Team advisors must ensure that there should have no any change made after the end of the contest.
The advisor is responsible for ensuring the collection of the solution paper from the participating team and uploading the paper (in PDF format) and control sheet to the IMMC contest system for the Expert Panel of Judges to review. Only submit one paper from the team for each upload.
The names of the students, advisor or school must not appear on any page of the solution. The paper must not contain any identifying information other than the team control number. The first page of the paper should be the summary of the paper.
5. Each student must sign the control sheet, pledging that they have abided by the contest rules and instructions. The advisor must also obtain the consent from their parents/guardians of each student so that advisor can sign the control sheet on behalf of them. The advisor must upload the signed control sheet to the contest system in PDF or JPEG/PNG format along with the paper submission.
6. School should address students’ learning and living needs due to the participation in the MMCSS. All accommodations relative to learning conditions for individual students would follow the accommodations used as part of the local school program in an affected student's daily learning. If specialised staff is required by local regulation and law, the school bears the responsibility for providing any specialised assistance as required by law or regulation.
Please Keep Connected Online
Each participating team will receive a control number via system email after successfully registering the contest. The control number is the only identity of the team for each contest/activity and the paper submitted.
IMPORTANT! Please make sure that you register with a VALID email address so that we can reach you at any point before, during and after the contest, if necessary.
Preparing a Team
1. Providing the necessary training and coaching for students before the contest is allowed and beneficial.
2. Ensure that students have access to computers that enable them to word process, use a spreadsheet and relevant software, and dynamically compute and model both graphs and geometric relationships. In addition, students should have access to graphing calculators.
3. The advisor is required to obtain the consent from parents/guardians of all students of the participating team and sign on the control sheet on behalf of them. By signing the form, parents/guardians agree their child's work are available (with confidentiality assurance) for use as model paper and training materials for mathematical modelling related professional development activities. Additionally, should their team be designated as an Outstanding or other award winner, the student's solution paper (or solution abstract) would be published. Signed form should be submitted in PDF or JPEG/PNG format along with the solution paper for review by the Expert Panel judges.
Language Policy
HKIMMC will adopt the bilingual policy. The solution paper and presentation can be written and conducted in either Chinese or English.
Preparing a Solution Paper
1. When teams are ready for the contest, the team advisors may login to the IMMC competition system after the starting time to download the problem and distribute it to the team.
2. Teams may use any inanimate source of data, materials, computers, software, references, websites, books, etc. However, all sources must be credited properly in the paper.
3. Teams may not use any person (other than team members) to discuss or obtain ideas for solving their problem nor may they seek help in obtaining an answer from the teams' advisor or anyone else. Any team that discusses the problem with anyone in a position to supply them with information reflecting experience or professional expertise will be disqualified. The relevant issue is one of intent: each team of students is expected to develop all of its substantive analysis without the help of others.
4. Partial solutions are acceptable. There is no passing or failing cut-off score, nor will numerical scores be assigned. The judges are primarily interested in a teams’ approach and methods and also how the team defines, analyses and solves the problem.
5. Teams can submit the paper and deliver finalist presentation in English or Chinese.
6. The paper the team submits should include a one-page summary sheet which should be the first page of the solution paper. The full solution should be no more than 21 pages (with summary page, excluding appendices and references). The summary is a very important part of the paper. The judges place considerable weight on the summary; the winning papers are always distinguished from other papers based on the quality of the summary. A summary is a first step for judges to decide whether they will continue the reading of the paper. Thus, a summary should clearly describe your approach to address the problem and, most prominently and what your most important conclusions were. Your concise presentation of the summary should inspire a reader to learn the details of your work. Summaries that are mere restatements of the contest problem, or are a cut-and-paste boilerplate from the introduction are generally considered to be weak.
7. The solution must consist entirely of written text and possibly figures, charts, or other written material only. Supporting materials such as computer disks will not be accepted except that materials such as computer program are required specifically and clearly.
8. Each page of the solution paper must contain the team’s Control Number and the page number at the top of the page; we suggest using a page header on each page for example: Team # IMMC20220101 page 8 of 18.
9. The names of the students, advisor, or school/institution must not appear on any page of the solution. The solution must not contain any identifying information except the team control number.
10. Any rule not followed is ground for disqualification.
11. Teams should keep in mind the following guidelines while preparing their solution papers:
– Conciseness and organisation are extremely important. Key statements should present major ideas and results.
– For the competition problem, you should present a clarification or restatement of the problem as appropriate in your paper.
– Present a clear exposition of all variables, assumptions, and hypotheses.
– Present an analysis of the problem, motivating or justifying the modelling to be used.
– Include a design of the model. Discuss how the model could be tested.
– Discuss any apparent strengths or weaknesses to your model or approach.
– Incorporate lengthy derivations, computations, or illustrative examples in appendices. Summarise these in the main report. Results must be explicitly stated in the body of the report.
Submitting a Solution Paper
1. Teams must end all work on the solution paper by the end time of the contest.
2. Submit paper via IMMC contest system: Log in the competition system (http://istem.info/web/login.php )
2.1. All teams are required to submit electronic copy of the solution papers and completed control sheets through the contest system.
(1). Submissions must be completed by the end of the contest.
(2). Failure in completion of submission before the deadline will result in automatic disqualification in related contest.
2.2. Name your solution paper and control sheet with your teams’ Control Number only.
2.3. The Expert Panel of Judges will accept only an PDF file as the paper. Document size should be less than 17MB. DO NOT include programs or software with your file as they will not be used in the judging process except that it is required specifically. The names of the students, advisor or institution should not appear on any page of the electronic solution. Page 1 of the electronic solution paper should be the summary.
3. The advisor shall ensure that each member of the team (including the advisor) signs the control sheet, pledging that they have abided by the contest rules and instructions.
Summary of submission:
1. Solution Paper:
- Restatement Clarification of the Problem - state in your own words what you are going to do;
- Assumptions with Rationale/Justification - emphasise those assumptions that bear on the problem;
- List clearly all variables used in your model;
- Model Design and Justification for type model used/developed;
- Model Testing and Sensitivity Analysis, including error analysis, etc.;
- Discuss strengths and weakness to your model or approach;
- Provide algorithms in words, figures, or flow charts (as a step by step algorithmic approach) for all computer codes developed.
2. The electronic file of the paper should be submitted by Logging in the competition system (http://istem.info/web/login.php ). See point 2 in the “Submitting a Solution Paper” section.
3. The first page of the solution paper should be a summary page. Solution paper and control sheet should be submitted in this order: control sheet; solution paper (including the summary page).
4. The advisor must obtain the consent from parents/guardians of all students of the participating team and sign the control sheet on behalf of parents/guardians. The signed control sheet should be submitted to the contest system in PDF format or photo format (JPEG or PNG format) along with the solution paper.
Presentation and Recognition
1. Each team will have the opportunity to be recognised with awards as Outstanding, Meritorious, Honourable Mention or Successful Participant.
2. If public health condition permits during the Covid-19 period, selected teams will be invited to present their solution paper in person in front of the Expert Panel of Judges.
3. The Awards Ceremony will be held on the interview day.
4. The results of the contest will be announced on the IMMC website and FB page.
Disclaimer
The personal information collected for this event will only be used in this event, which will not be used for promotion of other activities out of this Programme. All personal information will be deleted after an appropriate period.