Running head: PRE-ASSESSMENT FOR “REAL WORLD” MATH PROJECT1

Pre-Assessment for “Real World” Math Project

Tamara Martinson

OTL 502: Learning Theories and Models if Instruction

Colorado State University--Global Campus

Instructor: Nella B. Anderson

January 27, 2014

PRE-ASSESSMENT FOR “REAL WORLD” MATH PROJECT 2

In order to pre-assess my students for the skills they will need to complete their “Real

World” math assignments in Week 7, I used a three-pronged approach. First, I created a brief

assessment of math skills; it consisted of five word problems that were targeted on areas that my

students currently find challenging. The assessment looked like this:

MATH PROJECT PRE-ASSESSMENT

Name:____________________________________________ Date:______________________

You want to build this

bookcase. It has a top, a

bottom, two sides and

two shelves, but no back.

Based on this

information, please

answer the

Following questions:

1.) How many square feet of

wood do you need?

2.) If the wood costs $17.50

per square foot, how much will you spend on wood?

3.) If the wood is on sale for 20% off in Espanola and you drive there to purchase it, how

much money will you save? (not including the price of gas)

4.) If it is 46.7 miles to Espanola and you drive another 25.2 miles to Santa Fe, how far

is your trip from Taos to Santa Fe and back?

PRE-ASSESSMENT FOR “REAL WORLD” MATH PROJECT 3

5.) If your car gets 35 miles to the gallon, how much gas will you use for the entire trip

from Taos to Santa Fe and back?

I designed my assessment using “real world” math applications, such as the ones my

students will be asked to implement in the Week 7 assignment. I asked a series of questions

leading up to an Algebra problem that assessed for the skills specified in the standard unpacked

in our previous assignment: “CCSS.Math.Content.6EE.B.6 Use variables to represent numbers

and write expressions when solving a real-world or mathematical problem; understand that a

variable can represent an unknown number, or, depending on the purpose at hand, any number in

a specified set.” (Common Core State Standards website, n.d.)

The second part of the process was to administer this pre-assessment. In administering

the pre-assessment, I first gave a brief introduction to the Week 7 assignment and explained the

purpose of the pre-assessment in determining which math skills we will focus our learning on in

the next few weeks. I explained that my students will be allowed to identify a situation in which

they use math in real life and to create three math problems: one that they will solve themselves,

one for their fellow students to solve and one that we will solve together as a class. I allowed the

students to complete the above pre-assessment, then I passed out a “K-W-L” chart and had

students write, in their own words, “What I know,” “What I want (need) to know” and “What I

learned.” I also allowed them to include any misconceptions they had prior to taking the pre-

assessment and how their thinking changed, if they chose to do so. We reviewed these charts as

a group, recording the results on the white board. During this part of the process, the students

began to identify learning objectives for the “Real World” math assignment. (See photo of white

board, Figure 1)

PRE-ASSESSMENT FOR “REAL WORLD” MATH PROJECT 4

Figure 1. Photo of K-W-L Chart on white board

PRE-ASSESSMENT FOR “REAL WORLD” MATH PROJECT 5

Next, as a group, we created a rubric for the “Real World” math assignment. We wrote

this on the white board as well. (See Figure 2).

Figure 2. White board photo of group-created Rubric

Throughout this process, the students formulated their own learning objectives for the “Real

World” math assignment. They identified goals like “I want to learn how to do percentages and

ratios” and “I need to learn how to use formulas to find area, volume, etc.” Together, the

students formulated the above rubric, determining what a “poor,” “good,” or “excellent” math

project would look like. (See table 1, on next page).

PRE-ASSESSMENT FOR “REAL WORLD” MATH PROJECT 6

Table 1. Rubric for “Real World” Math Assignment

CRITERIA EXCELLENT (2) GOOD (1) POOR (0)

Addition, Subtraction, Multiplication and Division

Create an addition, subtract, multipli-cation or division problem and solve it correctly

Create an addition, subtraction, multipli-cation or division problem and attempt to solve it (may have error(s)

No attempt to create or solve problem

Ratios and Percentages

Create a ratio or percentage problem and solve it correctly

Set up a ratio or percentage problem correctly and/or attempt to solve it

No attempt to create or solve problem

Geometry Create and/or solve a geometry problem correctly

Create and identify a geometry problem, including applying proper formula (ie.LxW)

No attempt to create or solve problem

Algebra Set up and/or solve an algebraic equation (independently or in group)

Attempt to set up and solve algebraic equation and be able to identify variable

No attempt to create or solve problem

After administering the pre-assessment and creating the group rubric, I analyzed the data

from the pre-assessment and graphed the results. (See Tables 2 and 3). The graph shows that the

only problem on the assessment that the majority of the students showed mastery on was the

addition word problem. This was, in fact, the only question that anyone answered correctly. As

a result, I concluded that the mathematical skills that I had assessed for were definitely

appropriate skills to teach my students over the next few weeks. While I had designed the pre-

assessment to challenge my students, particularly in the area of applying mathematics to “real

world” situations, I had ensured that the calculations themselves were fairly simple. Therefore, I

concluded that the analytical process by which one would construct these problems was precisely

the skillset that I needed to teach my students.

PRE-ASSESSMENT FOR “REAL WORLD” MATH PROJECT 7

Table 2. Graph of Student Answers

Student 1 Student 2 Student 3 Student 40%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

Incorrect AnswersCorrect Answers

Table 3. Graph of Questions Answered

Addition Questi

on

Multiplication Questi

on

Percen

tage Q

uestion

Geometr

y Questi

on

Algebra

Question

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Number of Incorrect AnswersNumber of Correct Answers

PRE-ASSESSMENT FOR “REAL WORLD” MATH PROJECT 8

I believe that this pre-assessment process will lead to a positive learning experience for

my students for a number of reasons. First of all, we were able to identify which skills my

students need to develop in order to successfully complete their “Real World” math project. The

assessment pointed to areas that my students require instruction in, so I can use these results to

guide my teaching. Based on the pre-assessment, we created a rubric that identifies specific

math skills on which to focus learning. Since the students helped develop the rubric together and

they identified their own learning objectives using the rubric and the K-W-L charts, they have a

vested interest in the assignment. Also, since students will be allowed to choose a real world

math application for their project, this should further motivate them toward success. This is just

the type of intrinsic motivation, grounded in “self-determination and competence” supported by

Edward Deci’s research on the psychology of motivation (Deci, Ryan & Costner, 1999). I’m

looking forward to the next few weeks and hoping that my students will continue to learn and

grow through their own explorations of math in the “real world.”

PRE-ASSESSMENT FOR “REAL WORLD” MATH PROJECT 9

References

Common Core State Standards ( n.d.). Common core state standards initiative. Retrieved from

wwwcorestandards.org

Deci, E. L., Ryan, R. M. & Koestner, R. (1999). A meta-analytic review of experiments

examining the effects of extrinsic rewards on intrinsic motivation. Psychological Bulletin,

125(6). 627-668.