Today I presented several projects at the AMATYC Conference in New Orleans. I wanted to post some of the details of those projects for the attendees (as well as others) to utilize.
I use the College Costs Project in College Algebra. The version I presented in New Orleans is the first of four projects that I use in the class. This project requires teams of students to model college costs as a function of time using linear functions. Later in the semester, the students model the same data with quadratic, exponential, and logarithm functions.
The College Costs Project is initially given to students in a Project Letter.
The data the student us are also supplied. Each team is assigned a different state’s data.
The project is completed via three technology assignments that provide the scaffolding needed to keep students on task.
- Technology Assignment 1: Make a Scatter Plot of Data (DOC | PDF)
- Technology Assignment 2: Find a Linear Model of College Costs (DOC | PDF)
- Technology Assignment 3: Measure Fit (DOC | PDF)
The Salary Project is used in College Mathematics. This course meets my college’s quantitative literacy requirements and is often thought of as the liberal arts mathematics class. Like the previous project, Like the previous project, this project is provided as a project letter.
This project utilizes three technology assignments designed to lead the teams of students through the mathematics and Google Apps that they will use to apply the mathematics.
Technology Assignment 1: Constant Annual Increases
Technology Assignment 2: Percent Annual Increases
Students create an infographic to document their understanding of the solution. This is carried out in the third technology assignment.
Technology Assignment 3: Create Infographic (Part 1)
Technology Assignment 3: Create Infographic (Part 2)
I use a rubric to help me grade the project and provide feedback to the students.
- Infographic Rubric (PDF)
The Credit Card Project is also assigned in my liberal arts mathematics class. The goal of this project is to help students to understand their credit card statements. To do this, they carry out the calculation on that statement and improve that calculation so that it is more transparent to the credit card holder.
Technology Assignment 1: Find the Average Daily Balance
Technology Assignment 2: How Long to Pay Off
Students create a credit card statement in Google Drawings or Google Slides as the final assessment for this project. I can provide you with the Google files for this project as well as the Salary Project. Just drop me an email and I can share them with you.