Activities for Workplace Math

College math classes will bring you a variety of learners. Among them will be the students who are taking their last math class ever and they really have not patience for math. This brings your challenge as a teacher to keep these students as engaged as possible and provide as much evidence for your students on how learning math will benefit them in the future. The activities presented last class did an excellent job in achieving this. The first activity presented was a finance lesson geared toward the grade 11 MBF 3C class. This activity takes place the day after teaching the class how to calculate interest. In this activity, student groups are provided with the terms and information on different credit cards. The teacher then provides a scenario to the entire class where something is purchased and based on their information each group needs to calculate their interest and the benefits of using this credit card plan. The class then compares the results and discusses their thought on the benefits and disadvantages of credit card plans. Using actual credit card and debit plans is definitely a benefit for students as this develops life skills for everyday budgeting and banking.

The second activity was directed towards grade 12 MAP 4C class, it also developed student knowledge directly applicable to useful life skills. This activity allows students to design a house plan and make decisions based on a budget. The teacher provided a floor plan with dimensions of each room and students could choose from an array of tiles, hardwoods, carpeting, and paint colours to decorate their home. A worksheet is also provided for students to calculate the total cost of each room after they make their decisions. In class we were to choose three rooms and calculate the total cost however it was mentioned that this would make an excellent culminating assignment with a few adjustments. Some of the changes that could be made are 1)have students complete the entire floor plan 2) re-calculate some rooms using different materials and compare prices 3) Have students discuss the accuracy of their estimates i.e. some of the missing variables in the activity such as hidden costs/savings.