One of our top priorities when writing a new edition is implementing feedback from current users, pilots, and prospects. After many conversations with instructors, we noticed a recurring theme: the importance of activity-based assessments in quantitative reasoning and literacy courses.
Hands-on projects offer students the chance to apply their skills and concepts in real-world contexts, rather than irrelevant or abstract scenarios. Through these assignments, students achieve genuine mastery by analyzing information and engaging in critical thinking to arrive at a solution. This empowers them to implement problem-solving processes that closely resemble those utilized in professional settings, strengthening their ability to analyze, evaluate, and uncover fact-based solutions.
With this information in mind, our team designed brand-new Section-Level Projects for almost every section in the second edition of Viewing Life Mathematically to deepen students’ understanding of key concepts by emphasizing real-world relevance, fostering critical thinking, and enhancing student engagement.
These projects can be assigned individually or as a group with the primary goal of encouraging students to engage with the material in a meaningful way, helping them see the relevance and applicability of the content, or in other words…view life mathematically. By encouraging collaborative learning, these projects foster the development of communication skills and expose them to their peers’ varied perspectives and approaches, similar to the dynamic environments they are likely to encounter in their professional endeavors.
“My students and I are really enjoying the relevant application and engagement with the concepts that the projects per section in Viewing Life Mathematically have brought to our time together. I hope that is a new trend with all the new editions here on out! Big fan!”
– Emily Carpenter, Professor at Seminole State College and a Hawkes Learning Certified Instructor
Check out our Instructor Spotlight with Professor Emily Carpenter on the blog!
Barbara Miller, our dedicated Math Content Specialist, was asked about her favorite new section-level projects and she provided the following noteworthy picks:
Chapter 3, Section 3: The Case of Descartes
View/Download Free Project
“This one is possibly my favorite project because the project uses math to analyze a math joke.”
Chapter 5, Lesson 6: The Weightlessness of Parabolic Arcs
View/Download Free Project
“This is a project that I wrote. It was inspired by the OK Go music video for Upside Down & Inside Out, which required the use of a reduced-gravity aircraft. It’s a fun filming process that a lot of people aren’t aware of.”
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