WebQuest 

Home     Grades     Helpful Sites     WebQuest     Algebra I     Geometry CP

________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Financing Your Future:

How Much Will College Cost?

Created by Genevieve Nahra
Inspired by Michelle Lelli and Co. @ Holy Family in Rochester, MI

Introduction

 Task Process Resources Evaluation  

 

  

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!

Return back to the top

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.

Return back to the top

Process

  1. 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/
     

  2. 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)
     

  3. 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.
     
  4. Create a scatter plot graph of your data for each institution. (You should have two graphs.)
     
  5. Create the trend line, or the line-of-best-fit, for each graph.
     
  6. Write a linear function for each graph. Show all of your work and computations for finding the slope and y-intercept of your line.
     
  7. 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).
     
  8. 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).
     
  9. 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!
     
  10. 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.)

Return back to the top

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!

Return back to the top

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

Return back to the top

Conclusion

This activity was designed to enable you to use technology to search for information and to present research results in a professional manner.  In this activity you also furthered your investigation of least-squares regression by computing an equation to model your collected data.  For many statisticians, this type of research and analysis is routine.  Hopefully, you will find this to be a valuable lesson.

Return back to the top