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Mind over Matter
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A mental math developer
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Werner Wombo

Mental Math uses a simple design combined

with challenging sums to allow people to
improve their arithmetic skills for preparation for
the primary school level Mathematics Olympiad.

Contents
Scenario..................................................................................................................................... 3
Define......................................................................................................................................... 4
Research.................................................................................................................................... 4
Interview:................................................................................................................................ 4
About similar solutions............................................................................................................... 5
Graphical User Interface............................................................................................................. 5
Login Screen........................................................................................................................... 5
Main Screen (user).................................................................................................................. 6
After start is clicked............................................................................................................. 7
Main screen (Admin)............................................................................................................... 7
Settings screen........................................................................................................................... 8
Summary.................................................................................................................................... 8
Flow of the program................................................................................................................. 10
Administrator........................................................................................................................... 11
Normal User............................................................................................................................. 11
Acceptance tests...................................................................................................................... 11
Administrator........................................................................................................................ 11
User....................................................................................................................................... 11
Bibliography............................................................................................................................. 11
Works Cited.............................................................................................................................. 11
Appendix.................................................................................................................................. 12

Scenario
Mathematics is a large part of our daily and is used in pretty much all fields of study
that they are in from basic cost calculations in accounting to calculating flight paths in
aviation. Thus, I strongly believe that Mathematics is a subject that needs cultivating
over a long period of time as all other fields will surely fall and degrade over time if an
interest in maths begins to fall.

The task assigned be an application which primary school students could use to
practice for the mental math portion of the South African Mathematics Olympiad. The
3

benfit of this program is that will help improve the mental acuity of children from a
young and perphaps even cultivate a love for Mathematics.

Define
In order to develop the program I have drawn interest from the online mathematics
tutor Mathsbuddys Speed Skills application. The test will either be multiple choice or
work by user input. The information which will be accessable by the user will include
past scores and perphaps where they do the worst or best in. The program is going to
have a set administrator password and the user may create his own password(saved
to text file) to access his account.

The program will not therefore not only be used for preparation for a portion of the
Olympiad ,but to improve general arithmetic skills and could soon be extended to help
with the problem-solving portion as well to provide a more rounded preparation for the
Olympiad.

The goal at the end of this is to provide an application or learning tool which one can
use to either prepare for the Olympiad at primary school level or use to improve their
problem-solving and arithmetic skills.

Research
Interview:
I had interviewed a primary school maths teacher Mrs Bella Mokadikwa regarding the
program specifically its requirements and specifications. It was decided that it should
only focus on the four basic functions of addition,subtraction,division and
multiplication and will always have a set time limit and as said earlier the user will be
able to view all of the scores they had attained and play against a friend if only for
more leisure and display the time left as well as the current score. It was decided that
there user should just enter The interviewee requested that the admin should be able
to give tests of their own choosing as well as set the difficulty for the random
questions.

The image to the right shows an

example of the list of questions used
for a certain level.

About similar solutions

The online learning assistant
Mathsbuddy is very similar to what I
wish to do. If you gain a membership
it
will allow you to use a program
called speed skills which is used
solely for the improvement of
arithmetic skills. It uses
multiplication, addition, subtraction
and division as well but it goes further in depth and it does not use multiple choice but
the user has to enter it into a text and as such removes the need for an enter button.
Another example of a similar solution is found on Calculationrankings.com

Graphical User Interface

Login Screen
I wish for my program to begin with a Welcome/Login page like illustrated below. This
will be advantageous seeing as there will be no need to make separate tabs for the
welcome and login screen.
5

There will only be 2 options though which will be user and admin,but if user is clicked
it will lead to a screen whereby one can enter their username and password and
therefore this program is designed to be set in such a way that there will be multiple
users( saved to a database) and include an option to change the passwords will be
there for both.

Main Screen (user)

The

users main
screen will be

similar to the setup to the

bottom left in

that I wish to organise it

according to

grade of difficulty instead of by

actual grades
seeing as
grade 4s can
be more skilled

with arithmetical calculations than say for instance a grade 6. It will then branch out
into what the user wishes it to be. The following would be an example of such a path:
(capitals denote headings) [DIFFICULTY\level 3\TIME LIMIT\ 30
seconds\SECTION\addition {start of program}]

The
screenshot
right gives

to the
an alternate graphical user interface which is
more appealing to the eye and would make lots
of use of the
MouseMove event. This is due to the next set of options appearing when the mouse

hovers over the component. It would also allow the user to change background
photos.

After start is clicked

The screenshot to the right shows a
solution for the answers page where the
program will not use multiple choice
questions, but rather the program will
immediately sense if the answer which
was entered is correct and is my preferred
method which I would like to use.

Main screen (Admin)

The admin will be able to analyse the scores of all users at once which will be loaded
from the database or textfiles. The admin will also be able to add new users to the
program as well as view their passwords and remotely change it. I might use an
OpenDialog to select on the database and textfiles instead of LOADING it in the
application. He will also be able to send messages out to users regarding progress and
notices about tests.

Settings screen

I will use the Main Menu component with sub menus to allow for some minor setting changes
such as perhaps the time limit and the colour the form changes when an answer is either right
or wrong.

Summary
I like certain aspects I have found in these programs. Namely:

I like the idea of checking if the answer is right without an enter button
I like having dynamic questions.
The hovering over components instead of clicking.
8

The score and time being updated every question

Joint login/welcome page
Uses what appears to be Tabsheets instead of multiple Forms

The task assigned be an application which primary school students could use to
practice for the mental math portion of the South African Mathematics Olympiad.
The benfit of this program is that will help improve the mental acuity of children
from a young and perphaps even cultivate a love for Mathematics. The program
will being with a log in page with two separate options, namely admin and user.
The admin will be able to make all of the larger changes to the program such as
perhaps adding more images for the background and give tests as well as view the
previous scores by all users. Similar to this:

The admin will be able to add new users to the program and can remotely change
passwords in case of events where the user (non-admin) forgets his password and the
admin will not be able to change his or her password and if it is forgotten a personal
question will be asked in order to retrieve it. The normal user will use the main
program designed for the user and can make minor adjustments to the program such
as change its name or password ,beside using the program for its intended purpose it
can also only view its stats.

10

Flow of the program

Welco
me/Log
in Page

Give
user s
tests

Select
question
type

Select
difficulty

Program
start

User
main
screen

Take the
test

Admin
main
screen
Receive
score

View
users
stats

End

Add new
user

View
previous
scores of
tests taken
and areas of
strength and
weaknesses

Administrator

Normal User

The admin will be able to add new users

The admin can view all users information
The admin may change users password
Make major changes such as content.

The user can not add new users

The user may only view his own stats
May only change own password
No major changes allow

Acceptance tests
Administrator

Will
Will
Will
Will
Will
Will
Will
Will

be able to add users

be able to view all users stats
be able to change passwords and make alterations to the content
be able to send messages to user
be able to set tests for user
NOT be able to use the actual game
be in control of the randomness of the game.
NOT be able to change password.

User

Will be able to use the maths program

11

Will
Will
Will
Will
Will
Will
Will

be able to change name

be able to view own test scores
NOT be able to send messages
NOT be able to add users
NOT see other users stats
be able to change difficulty
be able to set time limit

Bibliography

Works Cited
Mokadikwa, B., 2016. Information about IT PAT [Interview] (20 June 2016).
Unknown, 2016. Maths Buddy Speed Skills. [Online]
Available at: http://www.mathsbuddy.co.za/ (Anon., 2016)

Anon., 2016. Mental math. [Online]

Available at: https://rankyourbrain.com/mental-math/mental-math-test-normal/results
[Accessed 25 August 2016].
Wombo, P., 2016. Information about IT PAT [Interview] (20 June 2016).
Unknown, 2016. Mental Maths Quiz - 2 Minuites To Answer All The Questions. [Online]
Available at: http://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=mental-maths-quiz-2minuites-to-answer-all-questions
[Accessed 19 August 2016].

[Accessed 12 June 2016].

Appendix

12

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