In the final session of the term and aided by a variety of snacks, Eltham College Maths teacher Mr Andrew Hon explained the different variety of auctions to our Year 11 Colloquium students.
During this session, our students bid for the confectionary brought by Mr Hon under a variety of different bidding systems:
– a classical English auction
– a Dutch auction
– a sealed bid auction
– a Vickrey auction
Apart from the enjoyment of the process, the key point was for our students to understand the different strategies that might be deployed and how these might be modelled mathematically.
Finally, Mr Hon skilfully transposed the auction process to decisions made in the world of politics. A most entertaining and enjoyable end to the term’s programme.
