The purpose of this activity is to have students discover how mathematics can be an integral part of all aspects of our lives.  Earlier in the term, students were asked to fill out a survey in which they listed interests other than their majors in school.  From this information I chose five areas of interest:  Music, Photography, Sports, Government, and Travel or Tourism.  Students may chose one of these five topics for which to research the mathematics connection.

 

 

 

Course Objective:  I have designed this activity for Math 210, Mathematics Appreciation.  Mathematics Appreciation is the general education course taken by most students who do not have a large mathematics requirement for their major.  As the title suggests, the purpose of this course is to help students "appreciate" mathematics.  Thus this activity is designed to help them gain a perspective on the mathematics involved in areas not usually thought of as "mathematical."

 

 

 

Learning Objectives:

 

• Students will search the Internet to find how mathematics is linked to their chosen topic.

   

• Students will discover the ways in which mathematics is connected to their topic.

   

• Students will prepare a report on what they have found and will comment on what their classmates have found.

   

 

 

Assignment:  Mathematics and Life

 

Pick one of five topics about which you will research its connection to mathematics.  For example, if your topic is photography you can find out about apertures, lens speed, distances from the lens to an object in order for it to be in focus on a particular lens, how number of pixels relates to clarity of the image, and so on.  You won't be able to find this out from simply looking at your point-and-shoot, digital camera.  You will need to do some research.

 

 

 

There are five links to appropriate wiki pages listed in the side bar of our class wiki homepage http://nmsumath210m20.pbwiki.com/.  Under the appropriate link post a description of what aspect of your topic you plan to research.  You may use the discussion tool in Web CT to coordinate with other students who have chosen this topic so that no two people work on the same aspect.  Post a description of what you plan to research by midnight April 7.

 

 

 

Conduct an internet search for information on your chosen topic.  Write a two-page, double-spaced summary of what you find.  Be sure to include a bibliography of the sites from which you gleaned this information.  Summaries are due by midnight, April 27.

 

 

 

Read all the other postings under your topic, and the postings under at least one other topic and comment, or share your thoughts on these postings.  A discussion link will be created in Web CT for these comments.  They are due by midnight, May 2.

 

 

 

Checklist for your summary:

 

• Your paper should demonstrate some aspect of how mathematics is used or how it relates to your chosen topic.

   

• Your web resource should be "respectable."  Make sure the information you put in your summary is actually true.

   

• No plagiarism.  Don't simply cut and paste from web sites, but put the information into your own words.

   

• Reference your sources in a bibliography.  Make sure I can go to the web site using the URL you provide.

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

QM Rubric Standards and Comments:

 

 

 

II. 1.  "The learning objectives of the course (or activity) describe outcomes that are measurable" and III. 1.  "The types of assessments selected measure the stated learning objectives and are consistent with course activities and resources.

 

 

 

    By creating the two-page summary of what they have found in their research, students will demonstrate their perception of how mathematics is integrated with their chosen topic.

 

 

 

    By participating in discussions of the summaries they have read, students will demonstrate how their perspective has changed in the integration of mathematics with these topics.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

III. 3.  "Assessment and measurement strategies provide feedback to the student." and III. 4.  "The types of assessments selected and the methods used for submitting assessments are appropriate for the distance learning environment."

 

 

 

    Since students will post their chosen topics and summaries in linked documents to our course wiki page, this fits nicely into a distance learning environment.  They can edit their postings at any time and receive immediate feedback from the instructor and other students.

 

 

 

    Since students will post comments using the Web CT discussion tool, they can again receive immediate feedback on their understanding of the wiki postings they have read.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IV. 5.  "All resources and materials used in the online course (or activity) are appropriately cited."

 

 

 

    Students are required to provide a bibliography for their summary postings and will be allowed to edit if postings are incorrect, so the finished product should have all materials and resources appropriately cited.  Also, assignments will have online course materials cited.

 

 

 

 

 

V. 1.  "The learning activities promote the achievement of stated objectives and learning outcomes."

 

 

 

     The purpose of this course is to foster an appreciation for mathematics.  Since students will be researching how mathematics is connected to an area of their lives in which they are interested, it is very likely they will appreciate the extent to which mathematics is a key component of that area. 

 

 

 

Ethical Considerations:

 

 

 

Since students will be conducting their research on the web, it could be quite easy for them to simply "cut and paste" parts of web sites into a document which they can then label as their summary.  But since other students will likely be researching the topic using some of the same resources, and since students are required to list the web sites used in their bibliography, this may be enough of a deterrent to keep that sort of plagiarism to a minimum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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