Basic HTML Version
Q
uantitative
R
easoning &
P
roblem
S
olving
444
© 2014 Pacific Crest
T
roubleshooting
Find the error and correct it!
Historically, the use of computer simulations in strategy games has focused on the game of chess. Initial
simulations attempted to look ahead at the future states of the board in an effort to find an end state
where the simulation won. The resulting decision tree is vast, however it was always thought that as the
computing power and speed increased it would only be a matter of time before the computers would
beat even the best human players. After nearly three decades of work on these simulations, look ahead
simulations still could not defeat the grand masters. How are these simulations flawed and what new
approaches did chess simulators take?
M
aking it Matter
Solving problems in your life
●
Find or create probability distributions for tragic situations (i.e. natural disasters, death in the family,
etc.) occurring in your life in the near future and then simulate the cumulative financial or emotional
impact on you and your family. Describe these results and how they affect your plans for the future.
●
Find or create a mathematical model that will take your salary as input and provide an estimate of
how much savings you can have for retirement as an output. Then find or create a distribution for the
salaries at your potential employer or future field of work. Use the distribution and model to create a
simulation of the possibilities for your retirement savings. Run the simulation and discuss the results.
L
earning to Learn Mathematics
Reflecting on and appreciating your learning
1. How are simulations used to learn about a situation?
2. Why do many technical jobs look for people that understand how simulations work?
3. What did you learn from creating simulations that you did not already know from merely using
them?
A
ssessing Your Performance
Assessing your performance as a learner
Review the description of
A Successful Performance
and assess your own performance against the
standard offered there.
●
How and why was your performance
SUCCESSFUL
?
●
How can you
IMPROVE
your performance, making it more successful? What
concrete steps
do you
need to take to make each improvement?