In MTH 120 we spend most of our time problem solving. I provide them with rich problems which they work on in groups. One such problem is a budget activity. In this problem they are asked to help a young family get their spending under control and start saving some money.

The first part of the problem has them take all of the family’s spending information and organize it into a spreadsheet. When they do this they learn that the family is spending more than they make each pay period. The students are then asked to help this family cut their spending.

For each recommendation the students make they must identify how the budget will be affected by the change, what savings they expect and what new spending the recommendation will cause. Next they must identify what implication their recommendation will have on the family, the community, and the world. I want the students to understand that decisions cannot be made in a bubble, every change will affect the family dynamics, the community and the world. For example, if they recommend the mother find a full-time job, there will be new money brought in to the family, but there will also be more money spent. The family will now have to pay for child care, more clothes for the mother, they will spend more money eating out and more on groceries, gasoline, car maintenance and car insurance. Students often are not asked to think about a problem in this way.

Once students have made their recommendations I provide them with a card with the budget changes that recommendation causes and they enter that new information into their spreadsheet to see if their family is getting their spending under control. Once they have the family budget in the black, the group gets one more card – a family calamity. They are given the calamity and are given how any budget changes they made affect the family’s ability to handle the calamity. For example, if they had the family stop charitable contributions to balance the budget, the family does not get any monetary help from their local church when the calamity hits.

I will next be working to make this activity experiential learning. I think it is almost there.