The Recommended Reading written by a neurologist/middle school teacher has ideas for helping people to love Math!! The Math Confidence video on percent change uses Google and Oracle stock prices to illustrate this important topic. Scaled scores are discussed and the important distinction between percentile vs. percent correct. Happy Holidays to all! |
"Learning to Love Math" by Dr. Judy Willis has an awesome subtitle "Teaching Strategies That Change Student Attitudes and Get Results". Published by the ASCD (formerly the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development about ASCD), how can Math teachers share their enthusiasm so that students will embrace the challenges and enjoyment of Math? While this book emphasizes the utility of Math, Dr. Willis also points out ways and reasons for students to learn including convincing people that they can change their intelligence, supporting students in setting short-term and long-term goals and reducing mistake anxiety. She also recommends teachers/parents sharing their own stories of learning including tales of endurance and fortitude. |
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Percent change compares two different numbers and relates them by percent rather than actual quantity (New - Old)/Old. Percent change questions can take two different forms -- find the percent change or find the New or Old price given the other. This month's Math Confidence video on percent change uses Google and Oracle stock prices as examples -- while both stock prices changed about 2% on 11/24/10, Google's price change was almost $12 (on a high, almost $600 stock price) while Oracle's was only 55 cents (on a much lower $27 stock price).
Percent Change Calculator
Math Goodies on Percent Change
ORCL (Oracle) Stock Information
GOOG (Google) Stock Information
Math Confidence Quia Percent Change Activity |
Scaled Scores and Percentiles
While many in-class exams are out of 100, SATs, ACTs and state exams are not scored out of 100. The top score on any SAT section is 800 and the highest ACT score is 36, while each state has its own scoring criteria and scale.
Percentile is not the percent correct but a ranking out of 100. For example, a 600 Math SAT score is about 75th percentile -- better than 75% of the people who took the test -- just placing into the top quarter. Graduation ranking is very much like a percentile.
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