MAT082
While teaching MAT082 this semester, I found that the students enjoyed a simple real world/hands on activity we did. We were studying estimating by rounding as well as adding and subtracting decimals. I had each student go to walmart.com or target.com and "go shopping". Each student at the group was assigned a place value to round to. Then they estimated the total cost of their cart. They were required to shop for 7 items. They estimated the total then they subtracted their estimate from the actual cost (which the website calculated for them). As a class, we then analyzed the effect that rounding to different place values has on the accuracy of the total cost. It was a really fun class and a way to get students to practice several skills and analyze math while doing something they are familiar with in their own lives.
Comments
This is fantastic. I wish more 082 instructors would use money to help teach decimals, fractions, and percents in the class. It really helps students grasp the concepts more. Thanks for sharing this.
Janet - Real-life experiences mirrored in the classroom are a hallmark of the Learning College, and I applaud your use of them! Have you taught MAT082 in prior semesters, where you did not engage your students in something like this? If so, you can compare data to see if this method is more effective. Then, you have completed the cycle!
Janet, to echo Becky and Pete a bit, this is a great activity that gets students to actively learn, show how it applies to real world applications, and is just fun! I think the next step you can do is see if this activity results in better quiz or test scores than before on this concept.