Brief Contents of the Special Video Presentations On Interesting Topics For Participants

Generation

What comes to your mind when you hear the word generation?

Remember from one generation to the next generation? In the scripture, those who witnessed all the marvelous acts and yet murmured and even tried to … were subjected to forty years of hardship in the wilderness, marking the riddance of a complete generation, according to the scripture. Hence, a generation here implies forty. Or, in this context, forty years. There are other different meanings of the word generation with reference to a different context or usage. Often, we interpret the meaning of a word in a sentence or statement according to context or usage because a single word may have more than one meaning. One typical example is the word turnover. Whereas turnover implies staff attrition in different context, it also implies return on investment or simply, the degree of productivity in different usage. You can conduct further study about this on your own.

Century

First, one hundred years make a complete century. While fifty years make half a century. It’s worth mentioning that ten years make a decade. Therefore, there are ten decades in a century. Let’s go to century usage in terms of twentieth or twenty-first century and how it’s determined. Let’s use the current century, 21st century as an example. Currently, we are in the twenty-fifth year of the twenty-first century (2025). Counting from year one to 2000 years, we can derive twenty centuries. However, because of the twenty-five years on top of 2000, it’s referred to as twenty-first century to account for the running century after twenty centuries (2000 years) plus twenty-five years (2025) (the current one-quarter of a century almost over on December 2025).

Percentile Ranking

According to Horton (2012), percentile ranking or simply, percentiles are used to distinguish for example, between one student’s performance and another student’s performance with reference to hundred scores or hundred equal parts. In other words, the students’ performance ranking is evaluated with one hundred percent or one hundred equal parts as the point of reference. For example, a student’s score at the 62nd percentile indicates that the student’s score is less than or equal to 62% of all the scores in the test result. While 38% of the scores rank higher than 62% of the test result.

Validating our understanding of the concept of percentile ranking further with triangulation of evidence, Motulsky (2018) reiterates that while one quarter (25%) (remember our point of reference here is 100%) of the values in a set of data is less than (<) the 25th percentile, 75% of the values in the same set of data is less than 75th percentile. Therefore, 25% in this case rank higher than 75th percentile. While 50% lies in the middle (50th percentile). According to Motulsky (2018), computing percentile ranking is more ambiguous than one can expect because there are eight different methods used to arrive at same correct answer. Understanding the method you use to arrive at the correct answer and the rationale behind it is relevant.

Percentile ranking for example, in a GED (General Educational Development), a high school equivalency exit exam is used to provide to the examinees a glimpse of their performance on the exam in comparison to other examinees (Horton, 2012).

A table showing aggregated data from past GED exam results to compare percentile rankings.

Furthermore, using a GED examinee’s raw data above, GED results, according to the official report of the GED exam; are provided as standard scores ranging from twenty to eighty and percentile ranking ranging between one to ninety-nine. A student must score above or within the middle range to pass the exam.

The GED scores are used to compare examinee’s performance to the representative national performance of high school seniors in the exit exam. For another example, an examinee’s percentile ranking of 30 on the GED exam indicates that the examinee scores better than thirty percent of graduating high school seniors at that period. There is a standard point of reference or minimum scores an examinee must earn in comparison to graduating high school seniors’ exit exam scores in order to pass the GED exam.

One take home information here is that an examinee’s score is used to provide his percentile ranking in comparison to other examinees. Different contexts may require the use of different indicators or scales to provide percentile ranking. Some use the degree of test difficulty to provide percentile ranking. For example, earning a lower score in a difficult anatomy and physiology test can still place you in higher percentile rank than scoring higher in an easy version of test or whatever subject test. Similarly, earning a high score in a science test that is evaluated to be less challenging can lead to lower percentile ranking from the test result.

Some admission entrance exams use this method in examinees percentile ranking and performance evaluation. You can search on your own for further information about percentile ranking and different methods used in evaluating it.

Horton, L.A. (2012). Calculating and Reporting Healthcare Statistics (4th ed.). American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA). www.ahima.org/publications

Motulsky, H. (2018). Intuitive Biostatistics: A Nonmathematical Guide to Statistical Thinking (4th ed). Oxford University Press. www.oup.com

Roman Numerals/Arabic Numerals (Conversion Factors - XL/40 - LX /60; X (10); L (50)

Roman numbers or simply, roman numerals are used mostly in our healthcare delivery. Roman numerals are very interesting to convert from increasing or decreasing order with simple manipulation of the numbering system. Meanwhile, before we delve into the real-world application of roman numerals, it’s worth listing those roman numerals we consider are the backbone or simply, the stepping-stone of the numbering system. In Arabic numbering system, these numbers are referred to as cardinal numbers. However, here we are going to include even both the cardinal and non-cardinal numbers that are essential to simplify our task of converting from one roman number to the other.

Quarter (Ist Quarter/2nd Quarter etc.) (Quarterly Report)

For our discussion involving quartile or simply, quarters, let’s use the number 12 that represents one year cycle consisting of twelve months. In breaking down one year or twelve months into four, each representing a quarter, we now have four quarters.

First quarter - three months (from Jan - Mar)

Second Quarter - three months interval (from April - June)

Third Quarter- three months interval (from July - September)

Fourth Quarter - three months interval (from Oct -Dec)

Quarterly Report - Every three months interval

Annual Report - Yearly

Using one hundred percent as another example of representing quarters by breaking it down into four- part interval, I% - 25% represents the first quartile, 26% - 50% represents the second,51% - 75% represents the third quartile, 76% - 100% represents the fourth quartile.

Polygons (E.g., Square, Pentagon, Hexagon etc.)

Polygons are closed figures made up of three or more sides with angular corners called vertex or plural, vertices. The number of angles of a polygon can be calculated with reference to the number of triangles formed from the polygons minus two. For example, a triangle as the term indicates has three sides with the sum of the angles totaling one hundred and eighty degrees. A square has four equal sides. A diagonal bisecting the square from the top to the base forms two triangles. The angular corner or vertex forms an angle of ninety degrees or right angle. An exception is in triangle where the angles of the vertices vary according to the type of triangle. However, the sum of the angles of any triangle is always one hundred and eighty degrees. An isosceles triangle has two equal sides and vertices. A right-angled triangle has one angular side of ninety degrees and other two angular sides totaling ninety degrees, each consisting of either thirty degrees or sixty degrees, to bring the sum of the angles of the triangle to one hundred and eighty degrees.

An equilateral triangle has three equal sides and angular corners each measuring sixty degrees, bringing the sum of the angles of an equilateral triangle to one hundred and eighty degrees. The sum of angles of a triangle is one hundred and eighty degrees. A square is a polygon with four equal sides and angular corners. Each angular corner of a square forms a right angle. Therefore, the sum of angles of a square is two triangles or three hundred and sixty degrees. A pentagon is a polygon with five sides and angular corners. A pentagon has a triangle on top and the diagonal bisecting the base forms another two triangle, summing the number of triangles of a pentagon to three triangles.

Therefore, the sum of the angles of a pentagon is 540 degrees. A rectangle is a polygon with four unequal sides. However, only the two opposite sides of a rectangle are equal. This distinguishes a rectangle from a square. A diagonal bisecting a rectangle from the opposite top corner to the opposite base corner forms two triangles. Therefore, the sum of the angles of a rectangle is two triangles. Using a square as an example of applying the number of triangles derived from a given polygon to calculate its number of sum of angles, the diagonal bisecting the opposite top angular vertex and the vertex formed from the opposite corner of the base bisects each right-angled corner into half or forty- five degrees

The number of triangles formed from a given polygon can be derived from the number of sides minus two. Therefore, a triangle has three sides minus two (triangle). A square has four sides minus two (2 triangles). A pentagon has five sides minus two (3 triangles). A hexagon has six sides minus two (4 triangles). Also, we can derive the name of a polygon from the of triangles formed from the polygon and adding two. And hence, the number of angles and the sum of the angles of the polygon. For example, the star of David has two triangles, by adding two to the number of the triangles, we four sides, forming a square or totaling three hundred and sixty degrees, a complete circle. A full moon is also a complete circle (2 triangles), while a crescent is half a circle (1 triangle). You can search for objects yourself and calculate the number of angular corners, sides, or triangles to name the object corn figure. Later, we complete the conversion one polygon to the other. Name the polygon:

A polygon that has three equal sides.

A polygon consisting of three triangles

A polygon consisting of five triangles

How many triangles can we derive from a dodecagon

How many sides does a decagon, octagon, nonagon, form and how many triangles each.

Hint: Decagon has ten sides, and therefore, forms ten minus two triangles, eight triangles.

Basic Trigonometry (SOHCAHTOA)

In this basic trigonometry, we’re going to discuss sine, cosine, tangent using a right-angled triangle. The trigonometric concept of sine, cosine, and tangent with reference to a right-angled triangle state that in a given right-angled triangle; the base of the right-angled triangle is called the adjacent. The height is called the opposite, while the slanting side that is often twice the length of the opposite is called the hypotenuse.

Mathematically applied in calculation and conversion, we apply the acronym, SOHCAHTOA. S stands for sine, O stands for opposite, H stands for hypotenuse; C stands for cosine, A stands for adjacent, T stands for tangent, while the angular corner is referred to as theta, a Greek mathematical symbol often depicted with a crossed capital Q. Mathematically applied in a right-angled triangle calculation we use the acronym mentioned earlier, SOHCAHTOA that translates into sin theta = Opp/hyp; Cos theta = adj/hyp; Tan theta = Opp/adj. Let’s apply this formula in some simple calculations finding a missing angular number in degrees and also a missing side. First, we know that the hypotenuse is often twice the opposite.

In a given right-angled triangle, the opposite side or the height is 2 cm, the adjacent side or the base is 2cm also and theta is 30 degrees. Let’s find the missing slanting side or the hypotenuse. First, consider which formula is most appropriate for the problem. In this case, we apply SOH or sin x = opp/hyp (SOHCAHTOA)

Sin x or sin theta = 30 degrees

finding the missing side, sin x (30 degrees) = 2cm/hyp = sin 30 x hyp = 2cm

hyp = 2cm/sin 30

sin 30 = 0.5

therefore, substituting for sin 30 (0.5), we have 2cm/0.5; multiplying both numerator and denominator by 2 = 4/1 = 4cm which is correct because the hypotenuse is often twice the length of the opposite.

You can practice on your own using either cos (adj/hyp), sin (opp/hyp), or tan(opp/adj) which ever solution is applicable in solving the given problem. You can also convert from sin to cos, or to tan.

SUMMARY: SQ3R (Contemplation/Meditation/Review/Rehearse/Recall)

SQ3R is a recommended study method to encode the day’s learning or studying from short term

ory to long term memory. There is a cycle comparable to recidivism in which we read or learn

and forget what we have learned after a short period of time, only to find ourselves re-reading or re-learning the topic all over again. And it becomes a cycle of reading and forgetting and repeating it over and over. However, the proponents of SQ3R study method come to the rescue with the acronym that stands for Survey, Question, Recite, Reread, and finally, Review.

Whatever criterion or criteria considered in evaluating the essence or the effectiveness of this study method, its very relevance is to facilitate long-term encoding of what we learn and thus, remember it. Thus, the SQ3R recommends prior brainstorming or what its proponents refer to here as Survey. This is followed by Questioning involving imaginary rhetorical questions about the topic, including shared thoughts. Reciting involves reading aloud if necessary or using such memory enabling methods such as CHUNKING and MNEMONICS, for example, forming an acronym to remember SQ3R as in Survey, Question, Recite, Re-read, Review.

The idea behind any method of study is to remember or improve our ability to remember what we have learned to avoid re-learning it over and over; because according to researchers, it takes only a short period of time to forget seventy-five percent of what we learned if no effort is made to encode the learning from short term memory to long term memory. Here comes re-read, rehearse, and review to foster recalling or for memory enhancement. Review, the last concept within the SQ3R study method is considered to be one of the pillars of many different faiths in terms of meditation and contemplation, all to foster understanding and comprehension of the subject matter.

We always here the sage remark, ‘think twice.’ Thinking, another euphemism for reviewing, meditation, and contemplation is necessary for detailing and analysis. According to one of the broadcast media icons, thinking is necessary to analyze and recall. Thus, in various areas of study, we encounter different thinking concepts that include critical thinking, analytical thinking, problem-focused thinking for solution. In addition, reviewing, thinking, analyzing, meditation, and contemplation are invaluable in remembering; thus, SQ3R.

This concludes our accompanying discussions for this event. Our discussions of some of the interesting topics continue next event period.

I 1

V 5

X 10

XV 15

XX 20

XXV 25

XXX 30

LXXXV 85

XC 90

XCV 95

C 100

CV 105

CX 110

CXV 115

CXX 120

XL 40

XLV 45

L 50

LXV 55

LX 60

LXX 70

LXXX 80

CXXV 125

CXXX 130

CXL 140

CXLV 145

CL 150

CLV /CLCV

155

CLX 160

CLXV 165

CLXX 170

CLXXV 175

CLXXX 180

CLXXXV 185

CXC 190

CXCV 195

D 500

DC 600

DCC 700

DCCC 800

DCD 900

M 1000

Converting the year, 2025 to roman numerals,

2000: MM, 025: XXV; 2025

Combination: MMXXV

Converting 1999 to Roman numerals:

1000/M, 900/DCD, 90/XC, 9/IX:

Combination: MDCDXCIX/MCMXCIX

1000 M

900 DCD/CM

90 XC

9 IX

It’s important to note that in converting from one given roman numeral to another, a shift in the roman number either before or after a roman number can indicate decreasing or increasing value of the roman number respectively. For example,

Let’s decrease or increase the roman number L (50) by X (10):

We do the following maneuvers:

Decrease, we place X (10) before L (50) = XL, 40

Increase, we place X (10) after L (50) = LX, 60

D stands for 500

C stands for 100

CD stands for 400

DC stands for 600 and it continues. Increase or decrease can occur at any spot between the numbers, only insert the letters correctly to indicate decrease or increase. You can practice increasing or decreasing roman numbers with your favorite roman numerals. You can also practice converting from Arabic numbers to Roman numbers or, from Roman numbers to Arabic numbers as we practiced earlier using 2025 and 1999.

CC 200

CCXL 240

CCL 250

CCLX 260

CCLXX 270

CCLXXX 280

CCLXL 290

CCC 300