Ralph Hameni Bieleu

OMDE 610-9040
Summer 2015
July 9, 2015
Assignment # 2

CHOOSING THE BEST COLLEGE

This activity will expose high school students to the process of choosing their future college. It will be
given to classes of juniors and seniors, and will cover three class periods. Students will have access to
computers during and/or after school.
Objectives of the activity
Upon completion of this activity, students should be able to:

Conduct research to choose a college;

Write and graph linear functions for a real world situation;
Analyze mathematical models to solve real world problems.

Detailed Description of the Activity

As you begin to think about college, it is time to explore your options and choose the college you
would like to go to. During the next three class periods, you will conduct research on the total cost by
semester of attending college and you will choose a college among several choices. The research process
will be divided into five steps. First, you will conduct research on colleges located in Maryland to
choose three colleges that you would like to attend. The colleges will be picked based on specific
characteristics that will be provided to you on the College Comparison Chart. Second, you will
conduct research on the cost of attending each college following the Cost Analysis Worksheet. Third,
you will learn how to write and graph linear equations from world situations. Fourth, you will analyze
the results of your research, create and graph equations to help you decide on your primary choice
among the three colleges. Fifth, you will write a reflection on what you have learned in the selection
process of choosing a college.

Part 1: General College Comparison

Ralph Hameni Bieleu

OMDE 610-9040
Summer 2015
July 9, 2015
Assignment # 2

Choose several colleges that you think will be a good fit for you. Restrain your search to the state of
Maryland. The Maryland higher Education Commission is a good resource. It can be accessed by
clicking on the following link: http://www.mhec.state.md.us/higherEd/index.asp
1. You need to explore each link related to the colleges of the Maryland system (public and
private).
2. You can obtain general information about each college by clicking on their profile link. Use
that feature to reduce to five the number of colleges you will explore more deeply later.
3. Use the College Comparison Chart worksheet to direct your search and organize your results.
4. Based on your results, select three colleges among the five preselected.
5. Write a 200-300 word paragraph to explain your research process and the reasons why you chose
the three colleges selected.

Part 2: Total Cost of Attendance-Data Collection

You will collect data on how much it is going to cost for tuition, housing, and living expenses to attend
each college. Then, you will create equations to calculate the cost of attendance by semester based on
the number of credits that you plan to take each semester. You can use the Higher Education commission
link previously provided to find the cost of tuition and campus housing.
If you plan to leave off campus, following are useful resources:

Apartment Guide: www.apartmentguide.com/

Roommates4you: www.roommates4you.com

To come out with living expenses, you will need to research the cost of food, transportation, clothes, and
emergency expenses. The cost of living will be specific to the city where the college is located. Below
are two good resources that can be used to estimate living expenses:

Ralph Hameni Bieleu

OMDE 610-9040
Summer 2015
July 9, 2015
Assignment # 2

National Standard Living Expenses:

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=104627,00.html

Cost of Living Calculator: http://www.bestplaces.net/COL/default.aspx

Part 3: Create and Graph Linear Equations

First, go to www.thelearningodyssey.com :

Enter your username (student ID #) and password (largolions2014),

Click on the folder Graphing Functions and complete each concept in the subfolders by
listening to the videos,

Take notes and complete the interactive practice exercises that follow each video. The second
subfolder contains a multiple choice quiz on the concept taught in the first subfolder.

Second, click on the YouTube video link, and login to your discovery education account to learn how to
create linear equations from real world situations: https://youtu.be/mMMho1guBEg

Part 4: Total Cost of Attendance-Data Analysis

For each college, create an equation representing the total cost per semester in terms of the number of
credits taken (Assume that the cost of living per semester is fixed).

Part 5: Reflection
Use the information above to make your decision on what college you want to attend.
Write a 200-300 word reflection about what you have learned, how this project has affected your view
about going to college, and how it will help you in the future.

Technology
The teacher uses technology to transfer the content to his students. That will be more difficult to achieve
using other means. After the teacher distributes the initial project paper, he/she will post the project on

Ralph Hameni Bieleu

OMDE 610-9040
Summer 2015
July 9, 2015
Assignment # 2

Edmodo.com for students ongoing reference. The worksheet resources will also be posted for students
to print as needed.
Technology also allows students to collect data on colleges without spending the extra time or money
associated with visiting a college, library or bookstore. Technology also gives the opportunity to the
teacher to differentiate instruction by having students work at their own pace and from multiple places
(school or outside). Assessments are provided after each concept learned on the Learning Odyssey
website (Computer-assisted instruction, intelligent tutoring systems). Real-world problems are presented
in the form of videos on the Discovery Education website.

Connection to Behaviorist and Cognitivist Theories

In this activity, the teacher wants the students to learn the process of choosing a college based on the
criteria that are provided to on the College Comparison Chart and Cost Analysis. The teacher
provides his expertise on what is important to look for during the search and what is not important.
Through the choice of the content to learn on YouTube, the Learning Odyssey, and the Discovery
Education website, the teacher provides the knowledge that students need to know regarding the lesson.
The teacher remains the main source of knowledge throughout this activity.
Student interactions are not essential for learning the concept or completing the project. Specific
learning objectives will be measured at the end of the activity with no flexibility on what to learn.
Instead, the teacher wants to force students to go through specific steps that are pre-defined for them.
Behaviorist pedagogy aims to promote and modify observable behavior in people (Harasim, 2012,
p.37). The teacher chooses to assess each step in the activity to provide a reward and punishment to
students behavior. Certain required deliverables are put in place to insure that students cover and show
understanding of the concepts. Students have to prove by the final product that they meet the objectives
of the lesson.

Ralph Hameni Bieleu

OMDE 610-9040
Summer 2015
July 9, 2015
Assignment # 2

Assessment Rubric
Unsatisfactory
1
Explanation of
the College
Choices
Paragraphs

Basic
2
Chose three
colleges with
little explanation
as to why.

Chose three colleges

with enough
explanation as to why.
Listed some criteria
used for decisionmaking.

Chose three colleges

with great
explanations as to
why. Listed all criteria
for comparing each
school

Note taking showed

no evidence of deep
research.

Note taking
showed little
evidence of deep
research.

Note taking showed

enough evidence of
deep research.

Note taking showed

great evidence of deep
research. Notes
present a good
organization.

No equation does fit

the task that was
presented.

Some of the
equations fit the
task that was
presented.

Most of the equations

fit the task that was
presented.

All the equations fit

the task that was
presented.

Graphs have no
scale, and label.

Graphs have
incorrect scale, or
label.

Graphs have correct

scale, labels but some
mistakes with the lines

Graphs have correct

scale, label, and lines.

No evidence of
mathematical
reasoning was used to
create equations and
graphs.

Little evidence of
mathematical
reasoning used to
create equations
and graphs.

Some evidence of
mathematical reasoning
used to create equations
and graphs.

Great evidence of
mathematical
reasoning used to
create equations and
graphs.

The work appears

sloppy and
unorganized.

The work is
organized but still
kind of sloppy.

The work is presented

in a neat and organized
fashion that is easy to
read.

The work is presented

in an outstanding
manner and goes
above and beyond
expectations.

20%
Developing
Linear
Equations

Advanced
4

Named three college

choices without any
explanation as to
why.

20%
Note Taking
during the
Research

Proficient
3

20%
Graphing the
Linear
Equations
20%
Mathematical
Reasoning
10%

Neatness and
Organization
10%

References
Harasim, L. (2012). Learning theory and online technologies. New York, NY: Routledge.

Score