31/10/2024

Regional PIC Meeting brings together nearly 300 students.

Students from the Junior Scientific Initiation Program (PIC) in Rio Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais, and Santa Catarina held their regional meetings in September and October. Nearly 300 people participated in the three events, which featured diverse programs including lectures and recreational activities.

In Porto Alegre (RS), 75 participants met on September 28th and 29th for a program consisting of five lectures, game sessions, and leisure activities. The meeting opened with the lecture "Can we lie with statistics?", by Luciana Nunes, professor at the Institute of Mathematics and Statistics of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (IME – UFRGS). Logic and generating functions were also topics covered.

“The lectures covered various topics relevant to logical and mathematical thinking, which align with the objectives of OBMEP, and featured qualified speakers,” shared the regional coordinator RS01, Esequia Sauter.

Sauter also highlighted that this year's meeting had to overcome an additional difficulty: the effects of the floods that hit Rio Grande do Sul between April and May 2024. “The event was a great challenge, since the city and a large part of our state were directly affected by the floods, creating great uncertainty about the continuity of projects such as this one. However, the event took place and was a success, both in terms of organization and the quality of the lectures and student participation.”

In Minas Gerais, the activities involved 120 participants, including 92 students, as well as the PIC team and speakers. The event took place at the Federal University of Ouro Preto on October 5th. The program included lectures on GeoGebra and the Cartesian Plane, as well as more playful activities. Among them were the Rubik's Cube challenge and an Origami workshop.

MG01 coordinator Wenderson Marques also gave a presentation on the PIC, mentoring programs, and the Hilbert Hotel Meeting, as well as other OBMEP opportunities. He said the meeting was a day of great learning and an opportunity for integration between students, teachers, and the coordination team.

“Coming to the university is also a way to broaden students' perspectives, showing them future study possibilities and increasing their expectations for continuing their studies. For many, especially those taking the online PIC program, it is the first time they have visited a public university. For all these reasons, we always strive to hold the regional meeting and we are happy about the students' interest in participating.”

The participants of PIC-SC02 also held the Regional Meeting. The group of 90 people met on September 28th in Chapecó, Santa Catarina. Among them were 84 students from the in-person and distance learning PIC programs, as well as four professors, mentors, and other organizers. The general coordinator of OBMEP and deputy director of IMPA, Jorge Vitório Pereira, also attended the event.

Lúcia Menoncini, coordinator of the PIC program in Chapecó, draws attention to the positive changes in school and social life that occur with participation in the program.

“The PIC program promotes many transformations in students' lives, such as the development of logical and organized reasoning. This is fundamental in people's lives. The PIC has also provided opportunities for the social development of students. They are better connected to the world and are learning about their peers' experiences with the program.”

Felipe Fernandes, 16, a student in the PIC program in Chapecó, emphasizes that the program promotes encounters between young people with common interests and goals. “The PIC is incredible; we're in a room where everyone has the same interests. Mathematics is what we all have in common.” The trip to the Regional Meeting was also memorable.

"The PIC meeting strengthened our friendship. We were already friends, but now we can't imagine life without each other because of all the talking and laughing that happened on this trip," he said.

Teachers participating in the PIC program perceive that their involvement in the project has changed their work dynamics. For them, one of the program's greatest contributions is bringing challenges and overcoming obstacles into their work environment. Furthermore, the program has fostered teachers' interest in exploring new alternatives for solving mathematical problems.

“The questions in the PIC challenge us, they make us seek more, want more so that we can understand how the question works, the strategies. They are different from what we normally work with in the classroom. In these three years, my teaching practice has changed, I have improved as a teacher, and this is one of my life goals, to be improving every day,” shared teacher Juciele Bittencourt, from the PIC in Chapecó.

For those starting their undergraduate studies in mathematics, the PIC program can also be interesting. Mathematics undergraduate Alessandra Suave, a participant in the PIC program, observes that the program helps to combine the theoretical knowledge of the undergraduate program with the experience and teaching of mathematics in the classroom. “It’s as if we were putting everything into practice and studying. It adds a lot to our training, making us more and more 'teachers'. It’s like a complementary training, with more in-depth study.”