Challenge Prompts Website

The UKMT kindly gave copyright permission for their problems to be used in this online resource provided that there was no commercial interest involved. It is strictly ‘pro bono’. The video prompts work well and help the students solve the problems. With the new interface, they can be set a paper to attempt on their own, go to the website and enter their answers. If the answer is not correct, they are presented with the video. After listening to the question being read out loud and watching the prompt, many will be able to solve the problem. There are many good problems in textbooks, but the UKMT’s problems are of a consistently high quality.  Half the students who sit these Challenges do not engage with 60% of the problems. This is a bit of a waste.

However, it takes a good ten minutes to explain how to solve the later questions. Many teachers will not have the time to explain several of them in class. Again, very few students will have the motivation to read the solutions provided by the UKMT. challengeprompts.co.uk  – which has plenty of room for improvement – fills a gap. Teachers and others are warmly invited to join us in building this resource for future students.

‍The UKMT gives exact information on the numbers of candidates choosing A, B, C, D or E .  One next step would be to use this info to infer the main mistakes being made and address them when making the videos.Problem-solving is the highest order of skill to which our students are introduced at school in their Mathematics. After from the enjoyment of solving problems, success in this skill breeds a kind of confidence which is not easily shattered.