Part V: Instructional Strategies

Introduction
When designing instructional material, it is important make decisions about how to organize
the material. There are three main decisions that need to be considered in regards to organizational
strategy in order to make sure that all of the learners needs are met, and the learner is supported in
their learning environment. These questions are: What content should be presented? How should
this content be presented? What sequence should the instruction follow? (Ragan and Smith, 1999,
p. 113). If these questions are focused on and effort is made to answer them, the resulting strategy
will be well on its way to meeting the learners needs.

Project 1 How Much Crime?

Introduction
In this project, students will be exploring statistical measures that they have learned about
before in class and through the math lab experiences. This lesson is focused on further
strengthening the concepts, and helping students to have a better understanding of how to utilize
the technology (Excel) with data that they have collected on their own. The students will also be
revisiting three different kinds of graphical representations of data, and exploring how to visually
represent their data and make conclusions and observations from this data. A constructivist
instructional approach will be used in this lesson, as the learners will be exploring the concepts
through activities in order to create their own understanding of the concepts. The following
instructional strategies are employed in this lesson: examples, images, key words

Body
In order to deploy attention, students are given a situation they may face when they
graduate:
You are graduating college and faced with the fortunate situation of 3 different
job offers in 3 different states! One of the things to consider when moving to an area is
the crime rates for this specific area. Using some of the helpful skills you are gaining in
Math 102, you are going to do some research into various crime rates for the potential
states using a tool from the FBI called the Uniform Crime Reporting Statistical Database
(UCR), located at http://www.ucrdatatool.gov/Search/Crime/State/StateCrime.cfm

This gives the student a useful tool to use when researching places to live, as well as giving
information for them to evaluate and things to consider about what statistical information
can/cannot tell us.
Students will research states that they are interested in living in after graduation, and two
types of crimes that they want information about. A variety of questions that encourage critical
thinking and class/Foundational Studies objectives will be posed to the student. Students will
then be asked to calculate various statistical measures, such as mean, median, and mode, with
the data that they collected. This requires the students to utilize the Excel program, which they
had previously been exposed to in class. Students will be also asked to create graphical
representations of the data in the form of scatter plots, histograms, and box plots.
Conclusion
Students will be asked to use their statistical data and graphs in order to draw conclusions
about the data. This allows students to utilize the critical thinking skills they have been
developing throughout the semester, as well as applying mathematical concepts such as skew and

variation. It also reinforces the importance of the class objective of using deductive reasoning
and explaining their arguments.

Project 2 All About the Cars

Introduction
In this project, students will be exploring compound interest and financial savings and
loans that they have learned about before in class and through the math lab experiences. This
lesson is focused on further strengthening the concepts, and helping students to have a better
understanding of how to utilize the technology (Excel) with data that they have collected on their
own. This project also utilizes a cross-curricular aspect, as students are asked to make an
advertisement to sell a loan, and must utilize creativity and visual approaches. A constructivist
instructional approach will be used in this lesson, as the learners will be exploring the concepts
through activities in order to create their own understanding of the concepts. The following
instructional strategies are employed in this lesson: examples, images, key words
Body
In order to deploy attention, students are given a situation they may face when they
graduate:
You have graduated college and your old clunker has died and went to a better place. For
your great new job, you need to buy a car to get you there! You will be researching the
cost of new cars, looking into loans for these cars, and figuring out how much you can
afford to pay with your amazing new salary!
This is an extremely useful skill and has many real-life applications for students, both
during college and throughout their life. Students will be exposed to the concepts of researching
interest rates, calculating principle and interest, and determining which rate is a better deal.

Students will also strengthen their skills at calculating compound interest and creating
amortization tables. By creating an advertisement for a sale, it allows students to utilize other
types of technology, such as Paint or Power Point, and provides a cross-curricular experience
with art, advertising, marketing, and more.
Conclusion
Students will be asked to use the information they collected about cars and loans in order
to draw conclusions about the data. This allows students to utilize the critical thinking skills they
have been developing throughout the semester, as well as applying mathematical concepts. It
also reinforces the importance of the class objective of using deductive reasoning and explaining
their arguments. This provides a real-life example of math in the real world, independent of a
career choice.

Project 3 How Much Does My Vote Count?

Introduction
In this project, students will be exploring how politics and our government are influenced
by math. Students will be required to utilize information they learned about in Chapter 12 of the
text, and apply it to determine state representation. This lesson is focused on further
strengthening the concepts, and helping students to have a better understanding of how to utilize
the technology (Excel) with data that they have collected on their own. The students will have
the opportunity to play a game online to strengthen their understanding on the mathematical and
political concepts in the chapter, as well as attempting some political restructuring on their own.
A constructivist instructional approach will be used in this lesson, as the learners will be
exploring the concepts through activities in order to create their own understanding of the

concepts. The following instructional strategies are employed in this lesson: examples, images,
key words, games
Body
In order to deploy attention, students are given a situation they may not have thought
about when they turned 18 what does their vote actually mean?
If you are a US citizen and are 18 years old, you can vote! But the question is who are
you voting for? Does your vote count as much as someone who lives in another state?
How about another county? In this project, you are going to do some research into the
elections for the House of Representative, and figure out how much does my vote
count?
Many (although not all) of our students are able to vote and participate in our government.
However, the majority of US Citizens dont even know how our government works and if their
vote actually counts in the big scheme of thing. This project shows how much math is involved
in politics and the structure of our government, and is an application many may have not thought
of. Students will be exposed to some of the information collected in the U.S. Census, as well as
how the different methods of calculating our representation in the government has changed over
the years. Students will also strengthen their skills at calculating the representations using a
variety of different methods, and determine how population change impacts political
representation. Students will also be exposed to the concept of redistricting and gerrymandering,
and have a chance to actually apply some of their calculations and knowledge learned in this
chapter to this governmental issue.

Conclusion
Students will be asked to use the information they collected from the Census to determine
and see how representation is impacted by population. This allows students to see how much
their vote counts in each election, as well as some factors that play into representation, such as
districting. It allows students to strengthen their skills in Excel through the use of the calculation
of the representational methods. This project also provides a real-life example of math in
politics.

Lesson Delivery and Management

Throughout the projects, there are a variety of different lesson delivery and management
strategies. All of the lessons are structured to be done at an individualized level; this gives
students the flexibility to go at their own pace, to reference their text and classroom notes, and to
receive help if they need to. Multiple kinds of media can also keep the motivation of students
high, as they are not simply using the same form of media over and over again. This instruction
strongly utilizes Microsoft Excel, which is one of the key software applications in this course.
One of the department goals for the revamping of the projects was that students become more
comfortable with Excel and how to utilize the techniques and applications taught in the text in
real-world examples.
By nature of this being a learner-led, self-instructional project, the time constraints to
complete this lesson will vary on the individual students. Each project will be allocated a
specific time to complete, depending on the course schedule decided by the group of instructors.
Students needing remediation would be able to spend much more time, going over the
explanations and examples until they were able to fully grasp the material and utilizing the Math
Lab as well as instructor help. The instructor has the ability to provide the students with Excel

templates as well as book references to specific Excel coding, if needed. Students needing
enrichment would be able to move at their own pace, potentially learning the material quicker
and spending more time researching the topic, which is of their own choosing. Each lesson has
examples of remediation and enrichment activities to meet the needs of all learners.