Introduction
Have you thought about your plans for your future? What do you
want to be when you grow up? What college or university will provide you with
the keys to success in your chosen profession? If you are not certain of your
chosen profession yet, what post high school educational institution will
provide you with the skills, knowledge, and resources you will need to be
successful? Here is your chance to think about and plan your future!
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Task
You will be researching the costs of post high school
educational institutions (college, university, vocational school). You will be
applying knowledge and concepts of linear functions to analyze the data, and you
will be making an accurate prediction of your cost of tuition for the 4 years in
which you will attend. (If you have another degree program which interests you,
and is more in tuned to your future plans, please discuss these options with
your teacher.) You will be using your research to create graphs and linear
functions in which you will use to make your prediction of total cost. In the
end, you will be presenting your research, data, graphs, and predictions to your
class.
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Process
- You will need to choose 2 post high school educational
institutions that you may be interested in attending.
Check out these websites to get you started in your research! They contain
almost every college's website!
Michigan Colleges and Universities
http://www.50states.com/college/michigan.htm
Michigan Community Colleges
http://www.50states.com/cc/michigan.htm
Other State's Colleges and Universities
http://www.50states.com/college/
Other State's Community Colleges
http://www.50states.com/cc/
-
You will research the cost of tuition, or the
cost of tuition with room and board, over the past 10 years. If available, I
recommend using more years of data; the more years you use, the more accurate
your prediction will be. (Helpful tip: Search "tuition history" at each website)
- You also have the option of expanding your research from
just tuition to tuition and room and board if you plan to live on campus in
the dormitories, or perhaps you would rather live in off-campus housing, in
which case you should coordinate your finances to accurately represent your
living styles.
- Create a
scatter plot
graph of your data for each institution. (You should have two graphs.)
- Create the trend line, or the
line-of-best-fit, for each graph.
- Write a
linear function for each graph. Show all of your work and computations for
finding the slope and y-intercept of your line.
- Use the linear function to
predict the costs for each of the 4 years of attendance for you to
complete a bachelor's degree. You will assume that you are a
full-time student (12-15 credit hours per semester).
- Compute the total cost for all 4 years of tuition, or the
total cost for all 4 years of tuition and room and board (optional).
- Your final presentation and report should include all of
your data, a bibliography outlining all of your research, 2 graphs, 2
equations demonstrating how you calculated the equation, your predictions, and
an overall summary. You may do a PowerPoint presentation if you prefer; either
way, make sure your presentation and final report is neat and error free!
- Your summary should include why you choose the colleges you
researched and any other interesting facts you discovered throughout your
research. You should also reflect on your report and include any final
thoughts on financing your future. (For example, will you be able to afford
your future? Did you think it would cost this much or did you think it would
cost more? Do you plan to get a scholarship? What other financial assistance
might you be able to receive? etc.)
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Resources
How to choose a college
http://www.catholiccollegesonline.org/students/howto.html
America's Best Colleges 2006: College Finder
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/tools/brief/cosearch_advanced_brief.php
Michigan Colleges and Universities
http://www.50states.com/college/michigan.htm
Michigan Community Colleges
http://www.50states.com/cc/michigan.htm
Other State's Colleges and Universities
http://www.50states.com/college/
Other State's Community Colleges
http://www.50states.com/cc/
Scatter Plots
http://regentsprep.org/Regents/math/data/scatter.htm
Graphing Data & Linear Regression (Excel Tutorial)
http://phoenix.phys.clemson.edu/tutorials/excel/regression.html
Line-of-best-fit
http://www.intermath-uga.gatech.edu/dictnary/descript.asp?termID=198
Line-of-best-fit
http://regentsprep.org/Regents/Math/data/linefit.htm
Linear Functions: Part A: Basics: Slope and Intercept
http://people.hofstra.edu/faculty/Stefan_Waner/RealWorld/tutorialsf0/frames1_3.html
Lines: The Predicting Power of Lines
http://www.coolmath.com/algebra/Algebra1/06Lines/14_predicting.htm
Scholarships.com: Find Money For College
http://www.scholarships.com/
PowerPoint in the Classroom
http://www.actden.com/pp/
Rubrics and Evaluation Resources
http://www.ncsu.edu/midlink/ho.html
General Math Rubric
http://www.sites4teachers.com/links/redirect.php?url=http://www.exemplars.com/pdfs/math_rubric.pdf
Rubric for Creating a Graph
http://cte.jhu.edu/techacademy/web/2000/kach/graphrubric.html
Bernie Dodge's Rubric for Webquest
http://webquest.sdsu.edu/webquestrubric.html
Again, thank you so much to Michelle Lelli and company at
Holy Family, without all of their hard work and dedication to mathematics,
education, and students, this project would not have been possible. THANKS
BUNCHES!!
Also, thank you to Gale from EST 531 for her expertise in
creating bookmark links! THANKS GALE!
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Evaluation
You should follow the grading rubric below as you complete
your project. You will need to print
this off and evaluate yourself. Please print your name on the top of the page
before turning in to your teacher. You can staple this page on top of your final
report or PowerPoint presentation printout. Be sure to include all graphs for
full credit!
| Financing Your Future: How Much Will College Cost? Project Rubric |
| |
Beginner: 1 point |
Novice: 2 Points |
Intermediate: 3 points |
Expert:4 points |
Self Evaluation |
Teacher Evaluation |
| Topic/Content |
Includes little essential information on post high school educational
institutions, and only one or two facts related to tuition costs' data. No
references are provided. |
Includes some essential information on post high school educational
institutions with few citations and few facts related to tuition costs'
data. Some references are provided. |
Includes essential information on post high school educational institutions
with most sources properly cited. Includes enough elaboration to give
readers an understanding of the tuition costs' data. Most references are
provided. |
Covers topic completely and in depth. Complete information on post high
school educational institutions. Encourages readers to know more about
tuition costs' data. All references are provided in a neat and organized
document. |
|
|
| Mathematical Requirements |
There is no use or inappropriate use of mathematical respresentations (i.e.
tables, graphs, etc.). There is no use, or mostly inappropriate use, of math
terminology and notation. |
There is some use of appropriate mathematical representation. There is some
use of math terminology and notation appropriate of the problem. |
There is appropriate use of accurate mathematical representation. There is
effective use of math terminology and notation. |
Mathematical representation is actively used as a means of communicating
ideas related to the solution of the problem. There is precise and
appropriate use of math terminology and notation. |
|
|
| Graphs (2 graphs) |
Each graph does not have a title or symbols. Each graph has no labels for
the axis. Each graph does not show all of the data. Each graph may not
include the trend line to reflect the data. Each graph is somewhat neat. |
Each graph has a title and some symbols. Each graph has labels for at least
one of the axis. Each graph shows some of the data. Each graph may include
a trend line that does not reflect the data. Each graph is somewhat neat. |
Each graph is clear and attractive. Each graph has a title and symbols. Each
graph has labels for at least one of the axis. Each graph shows all of the
data accurately. Each graph includes a trend line that reflects the data.
Each graph is very neat. |
Each graph is clear, logical and attractive. Each graph has an appropriate
title and symbols. Each graph has labels for both the x-and y-axis. Each
graph shows all of the data accurately. Each trend line accurately reflects
the data, and shows the future data predictions. Each graph is extremely
neat. |
|
|
| Predictions |
Tuition rates for each school are not shown, and/or they do not follow the
trend from the data. The total tuition rates are not calculated. Many
calculation errors are present. |
Tuition rates for at least on school are shown for each of the 4 years, and
the total for that school is also shown. Some calculation errors are
present. |
Tuition rates for most of the 4 years of school for each school with almost
all correct calculations are shown, and almost all total tuition rates for
the total 4 years are shown. |
Tuition rates for each of the 4 years of school for each school with all
correct calculations are shown, and all total tuition rates for the total 4
years are shown. |
|
|
| Mechanics |
Includes more than 5 grammatical errors, misspellings, punctuation errors,
etc. |
Includes 3-4 grammatical errors, misspellings, punctuation errors, etc. |
Includes 2-3 grammatical errors, misspellings, punctuation errors, etc. |
Grammar, spelling, punctuation, capitalization are correct. No errors in
the text. |
|
|
| Scale: 18 - 20=Expert 15 - 17=Intermediate 10 - 14=Novice 6
-9=Beginner |
Total Points |
0 |
0 |
