For the past two years the Queen’s College of Guyana Alumni Association (NY) has been hosting its Queen’s College Summer Maths Institute, and Maplesoft has supported this initiative by giving students access to Maple.   With Dr. Terrence Blackman at its helm, the institute aims to sustainably implement a developmentally appropriate and culturally resonant middle school learning environment that engages Guyanese students in a cognitively rich mathematics learning experience.  The experience is intended to place them securely on pathways to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) excellence.

The program uses a developmentally appropriate approach that combines significant mathematical content with a setting that encourages a sense of discovery and excitement about math through problem solving and exploration. Program Manager Shindy Johnson, a former student of Queens College, noted that by the end of the first week math sceptics fall in love and gained confidence, and math lovers renew their passion.

As avid Maple users, Dr. Terence Blackman and Cleveland Waddell, one of the main organizers and lecturer,  give the students the opportunity to use Maple. Last year, the students were amazed by Maple's computational power. “It was nothing like they have seen before.  Many students also wrote their first lines of computer code using Maple during the summer camp.  Maple is an invaluable resource for us during the camp,” said Waddell.

Dr. Terence Blackman and Cleveland Waddell

Students receive further enrichment through field trips to broaden their appreciation for education and industry in Guyana.  In addition, Guyanese professionals visit the Institute to share their expertise, career journeys and practical applications of math and other STEM disciplines in their professions.

Field trip to Uitvlugt Sugar Estate

Students who participate ranged from self-professed math lovers to teens who confessed to fearing and even loathing math. By the end of the first week, math lovers had discovered even greater “beauty in the mathematics” and those who quaked at the thought of math were beginning to commit – with confidence – to improving their math grades. This year’s Queen’s College Summer Maths Institute will take place July 26-August 3, 2018 in Georgetown, Guyana.