Ever hear the lament from your students that "They aren't very good at math," even when they might be doing well in the course?

I believe there is a small, but significant percentage of technically inclined students who would excel in a technical field if only they were able to have a positive, personal experience of correctly solving a highly technical problem.

I believe it might give them the little bit of self-confidence they need to overcome their fear of failure.

This module was written for MAT151 students who were recently exposed to the mathematical translation of functions in the Cartesian Coordinate system, and are currently solving a system of three equations in three variables. There is often an example in the text at this point where a set of three (x, y) data points are fit to a parabola, using a system of three quadratic equations. This module exploits and expands on these skills.

Go ahead and try these in one of your courses, though!  Just to see how enthusiastic students are when they become crime scene investigators!

Module Goal

The goal of this module is to spark learning and critical thinking by using imaginative activities that grab students' attention.

Module Overview and Description

These activities present crime scene data to small teams of students who are asked to use critical thinking, along with some recently learned mathematical skills, to solve the crime.

Students:

• Analyze a set of facts using deductive reasoning.
• Draw upon a set of recently learned mathematical skills to formulate a plan of investigation.
• Apply these skills toward the solution of a crime.
• Compare and constructively criticize their team’s solution to that of a fictional detective.

Module Needs Analysis

The sheer volume of material covered in a MAT 151 (College Algebra) course can leave a student wondering how one might ever put such knowledge to use.

The activities in this module bring a complex data analysis process into the recently popularized realm of crime scene analysis. These activities are intended to be similar in nature to the scenarios presented on the NUMB3RS TV program, but adapted to the skill level that a MAT 151 student can demonstrate.

Texas Instruments has done similar adaptations to high school level math because there seems to be a void at the college level – http://education.ti.com

Here Are the Materials for You to Use

Instructor Materials

Student Materials

This is a shortened version of a story titled “Digit Finds a Gun,” which is among several stories available for download at http://www.DigitsWebSite.com

Also have a look at the background material pages at that site on how to fit parabolic data, and how to find a single point of origin. A review seems to be a part of the development process, which include a beta-test, or run-through.

Final Project Report

Here is a report summarizing the results from the times I've taught the course.

Final Report

Here is a survey you can use to gather results from your class after you teach this activity.

Final Survey