Consumer Math


Course Meetings: 

2nd period 9:21-9:17

Location: Sven (library) 
Instructors: Christine Imming
E-mail: [email protected]


COURSE DESCRIPTION
The Consumer Math course is designed to prepare students for daily living beyond school. The course will cover a variety of areas that you deal with in life such as taxes, loans, housing costs, vehicle costs, and budgeting. These skills are covered in simple examples that show the basic ideas of what to do and look for when choosing insurance or investments as an example. Supplemental material such as online calculators, Google sheets, guest speakers, trips to businesses, and worksheets are used throughout the course to solidify the importance of the math skills needed for daily living. This is also a concurrent enrollment course which means that you will receive college credit upon completion of this course.


ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
  • How do you manage your financial life through thoughtful, informed decisions?
  • How do you navigate the basics, and potentially advanced, aspects of living on your own?


COURSE OBJECTIVES:
  1. Gain facility in use of financial calculators.
  2. Understand key concepts for all topics..
  3. Improve algebraic manipulative skills.
  4. Understand the basic language of financial mathematics.
  5. Apply the skills learned to solve problems in pricing, taxation, insurance, and investment.
  6. Recognize valid and invalid financial claims and construct valid financial arguments.
  7. Analyze a complex financial decision.

LEARNING OUTCOMES: AHS is committed to providing a college preparatory curriculum through project-based learning. While consumer math is an elective and therefore does not have the same time commitments as a core class we are still dedicated to providing a class that focuses on our core values of: real-world application, common intellectual mission, personalization, and preparing all students for post-secondary success.  Through these core values, PAPER, and the content students will walk away with the ability to critically think about their finances and be informed enough to navigate life independently.

Course Learning Outcomes mapped to program learning outcomes
Activities/Products
  • The student reflects on his/her own practice and analyzes the implications of their financial decisions.
  • The student applies his/her understanding of personal finance
  • The student engages in collaborative action with colleagues to address how to navigate life through personal finances.
  • Inquiry Journal, Reader Response Briefs on required readings, budget template completion,  Final project/paper                     
Readings:
The course readings will be developed as the course progresses throughout the semester.  Rather than have prescribed readings, we would like to adapt to the needs of our students and utilize readings to dig deeper into an area that the class is interested in learning more about.

COURSE ASSIGNMENTS  and ACTIVITIES
Students will engage in a number of activities in which they are familiar with through other AHS courses: reflection, observation, dialogue, peer critique, interviews, critical analysis of text, course session feedback and evaluation, a final project integrating theory and practice, and presentations of learning. Here are the major assignments for this course:


  1. Inquiry journal. Students will maintain an Inquiry Journal in which they record observations, reflections, analysis, and questions deriving from course activities.
  2. Assignments
  3. Final Project (TBD)
  4. Digital portfolio. Each student will post key documents or other work artifacts from the course to his or her digital portfolio, as part of an ongoing archive of products, reflections, and analysis throughout the program

Final Budget and Reflection
We will spend the semester developing a budget.  The beginning of the course you will be introduced to all of the elements that make up a budget, and through the completion of the budget you will learn most if not all aspects of personal finance. The reflection aspect will consist of you reflecting upon your learning as well as how you can apply your learning.

Final Project-This is possibly going to change
Create a unique and playable game of Life or a Book of Life including all major concepts covered in class.  The player/reader should learn and take knowledge away from the experience.  The final product will be played/read by students

Digital Portfolio
Students are encouraged to record course learnings and reflections in their digital portfolios.


COURSE SCHEDULE-See Christine's Digital Profile or Google Classroom
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CREDIT HOURS
This is a full semester class that will gain you either a math credit (for those of you who need a math credit) or an elective credit for AHS.  For those of you who elect to take this as a concurrent enrollment course, upon passing the Accuplacer at the beginning of the course, passing the final exam, and passing the class you will receive a non-guaranteed transfer college credit as well.

Concurrent enrollment-optional-3 college credits (Math or an elective-$14.10) 
SCCC concurrent enrollment application.  Click on Apply Online and then create an account.  You will also need to fill out an additional paper information sheet.  See me if you need a copy. 

Once you have an account you can enroll at SCCC.  Passing this class with a C- or better will provide you with 3 college level math credits that MAY be transferrable to your future college as an elective credit or as a math credit.  The college you attend in the future will decide what the credits can be used for-math or elective.




EXPECTATIONS & ASSESSMENT
This course is a concurrent enrollment course, which means that we will have a mid-term and a final exam.  Both of these exams are in the traditional format and students will be supported in studying and passing these exams.  Our major assignments will have a class generated rubric in which the student can choose to either be grade through a dialogical method with the instructors or solely by the instruction.  The bulk of the grades will come from classroom engagement as measured through warm-ups, discussions, and exit tickets with their final budget, final project, and exams making up the final aspects of their grade.

LATE POLICY:  Students are expected to turn assignments in on time.  All assignments(including warm-ups) that are more than one week late will be considered with  20% deduction in points.

GRADING
Warm ups-30%
Class work-70%