Recycling Online Math Projects

1
Recycling Online Math Projects
Presented at NYSMATYC April 21, 2007 Niagara
Falls, New York Math on the Web Themed Session

• Mary Beth Orrange
• Professor Mathematics
• Erie Community College
• orrange_at_ecc.edu

2
Credit goes to

• Leslie Redwine
• Prince Georges Community College

for introducing me to this project.
3
Projects online

• The purpose of incorporating projects into an
  online course is to create a sense of application
  generally developed in a seated class and is
  often omitted in the online environment.

I incorporated the use of MathXL into my online
class a year ago. Assigning projects balances
the emphasis on skill development.
I survey my students regarding many of the
features in the online environment. One of the
highest rated features is the projects!
4
Projects online

• Three projects throughout the semester
• Numerical
• Linear Modeling
• Modeling with Exponents and Logarithms

The linear modeling project is the one described
in this presentation. The project stays the
same, but the data differs from semester to
semester.
5
Linear Modeling Project Data

• Data sets I have used
• Price of first class postage stamps (original)
• The Federal minimum wage
• College tuition and fees in community colleges
• First year college enrollment in public colleges
  in New York state
• US consumption of oil and petroleum over the years

6
Linear Modeling Project Data

• References
• Price of first class postage stamps (original)
  Data found at the website http//www.akdart.com/
  postrate.html
• The data for the the Federal minimum wage was
  found at the website
• http//www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/chart.htm
• College tuition and fees in community colleges as
  well as the First year college enrollment in
  public colleges in New York state was found in
  the Digest of Educational Statistics, 2004 Table
  313. 
• The data for the US consumption of oil and
  petroleum project was found at the Energy
  Information Administration, Official Energy
  Statistics from the US Government. Data
  published on 10/2/2006 http//tonto.eia.doe.gov/dn
  av/pet/hist/mttupus2a.htm

7
Cost of First Class Postage Stamps
8
Federal Minimum Wage
9
Tuition
10
Enrollmentin Public Colleges in New York State
11
Linear Modeling Project

• Three pages in the project folder
• Things to practice before starting the project
• The project assignment
• Use your calculator the regression line

Students may choose to work together in groups,
but at this time it is not required.
12
Before

• Make sure you know how to use the following
  before you tackle the Linear modeling project
• How to use the slope formula (y2-y1)/(x2- x1)

• How to write an equation of a line using the
  point-slope formula  y - y1 m(x - x1)

• Change a line from the point-slope form into the
  Slope-Intercept form of a line y mxb

13
Before cont

• Find and interpret the x-intercept of a line, let
  y 0 and find the value for x. 

• Find and interpret the y-intercept of a line, it
  is b when the equation is in the form y mxb 

• Learn how to find the line of best fit or
  regression line on your calculator.

14
Project Requirements

• Describe the data set in words
• Construct a scatter plot of the data
• Pick any three ordered pairs from the data
• Find the slope and equation of the line passing
  through the points, two at a time.

Stamp data
15
Project Requirements cont

• Using the equation of each of the lines found,
  calculate and describe the meaning of the
  x-intercepts.

• Using the equation of each of the lines found,
  calculate and describe the meaning of the
  y-intercepts.

16
Project Requirements cont

• Using the equations of the lines found, predict
  the y value for years not found in the data.

• Describe which equation best fits the original
  data set.

• Find the line-of-best-fit or regression line
  using the entire data set.

17
Instructions to the students
Using your calculator

• Describe in detail for the students how to use
  the TI-83 and TI-84 calculators to determine the
  linear regression line that fits the given data.

18
Questions/Comments?