Part IV: Objectives and Assessment

Introduction
When designing instructional material, it is important to truly understand what learners are
able to do after they have completed the instruction. In order to do that, the designers must create
learning objectives, which describe what learners can do to demonstrate what they have learned
(Ragan and Smith, 2005, p. 84). From these learning objectives comes the need to assess what they
have learned in order to make sure students are learning what they are supposed to via the
instructional materials.

Learning Objectives
At the end of instruction, the learner should be able to accomplish certain tasks. These
tasks, or skills, are the learning objectives for the lesson. For the Projects in Math 102, there are
mathematical learning objectives specified for each project, as well as indications of which
Foundational Studies objectives have been met in each project.
Project 1 How Much Crime?
Learning Objectives
By the end of this project, students will be able to:
1.

Locate and report crime rates for the United States from the Uniform Crime Reporting
(UCR) Statistics database 100% of the time, based on:
a. State
b. Specific Year
c. Range of Years

d. Type of crime: violent or property

2. Make correct comparisons of crime rates, 100% of the time, between:
a. States
b. Type of crime
c. Years
3. Calculate the following statistical measures using data collected from UCR correctly, at
least 85% of the time:
a. Mean
b. Median
c. Mode
d. Minimum
e. Maximum
f. Range
g. Lower Quartile
h. Upper Quartile
i. Standard Deviation
4. Create graphic descriptions of the data collected from UCR correctly, at least 85% of the
time:
a. Boxplot
b. Scatter plot
c. Histogram
5. Make conclusions and hypothesis about crime trends for a state/area.

Project 2 All About the Cars

Learning Objectives
By the end of this project, students will be able to:
1.

Locate online and correctly record, 100% of the time,

a. Car Price
b. Loan Interest Rate
c. Loan Period
d. Savings Interest Rates

2. Make correct comparisons of loans, 100% of the time, between:

a. Interest Rate
b. Length of Loan
3. Calculate the following financial information collected online correctly 85% of the time:
a. Monthly Payment
b. Total Cost of a Loan
c. Total interest Paid
d. Percentage of Interest Paid on a Loan
e. Monthly Income
f. Amortization table
g. Compounding Interest
4. Create graphic descriptions of the data correctly 85% of the time:
a. Scatter plot
5. Make correct conclusions and hypothesis about loan and interest rates, down payments,
and depreciation of values.

Project 3 How Much Does My Vote Count?

Learning Objectives
By the end of this project, students will be able to:
1.

Locate and report information collected from the U.S. Census correctly 100% of the
time, including:
a. Population
b. House of Representative representation

2. Calculate the number of House of Representatives for each state correctly 85% of the
time, using the following methods:
a. Hamilton
b. Jefferson
c. Webster
d. Hill-Huntington
3. Compare/contrast the Representative calculation methods
4. Calculate correctly 85% of the time:
a. population change
b. percentage
5. Experiment with gerrymandering a map to change the Congressional Districts for a state.

Assessment
There are three parts to the assessment of material: entry-level assessment, pretest, and
posttest. The entry-level assessment is a way to determine what skills and knowledge the

students have prior to participating in the instruction. This is crucial in order to determine the
skill level of the learners when they start the instruction. In the case of Math 102, the entry level
assessment for the course, and thus the projects, is already given by the placement of the student
in the course via the Maple T.A. The pretest is given in order to determine what learners
already know with regard to the objectives at hand (Ragan and Smith, 2005, p. 95). This is
crucial in determining what the learners still need to learn via the instruction. The subsequent
posttest is given as a way to determine if the learners have successfully achieved the learning
objectives. Each project has a pretest and posttest that are given to the students focusing on the
mathematical concepts from the project and is located in Appendix A, B, and C (respectively).