Mathematics subject report · May 2004

EXTENDED ESSAY REPORTS – MAY 2004 Mathematics My report from last year is reproduced with one additional comment. A large number of supervisors in school continue to allow the essay to be submitted without any comment from them. The markers can find comments from the supervising teacher extremely helpful as they assess the essay. Additionally, a rule of thumb is that an essay should be accessible to any good among the author’s fellow students. Avoid writing ‘research paper’ type essays. Preamble There has been an increase in the number of students submitting an extended essay in mathematics, which is very pleasing, as is the continued variety of topics chosen for the essays. In this respect, in almost one hundred essays that I personally read there were some topics that I had hardly seen in previous years, with sport and stock markets making several appearances. There were some essays with very imaginative titles, demonstrating th e limitless ways in which mathematics can be successfully made applicable or merely appreciat ed for its beauty. Graph theory, number theory, analysis and statistics were popular areas for essay topics. Generally, it has again been an enjoyable experience to read and assess extended essays in mathematics The range of marks awarded extended from low single figures to close to, and possibly at, the maximum thirty-six. I have mentioned one worrying aspect in my previous reports, and I do so again because there has not been any major change in the situation. It is the number of essays that are submitted without any comment whatsoever from the s upervisor, and it is not just at one end of the quality range that this happens. In my own initial allocation, the best essay had no comment from the supervisor. It may not follow that the absence of comments indicates a lack of involvement with the student in the essay