Crunching numbers with purpose: Real world math at MSU solves community problems
Contact: Kaitlyn Yeatman
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥斢；ǖ己 樱花导航 Instructor II Kim Walters is using her Math in Your World class to teach students that math is more than problems in a textbook鈥撯搃t鈥檚 a practical tool with everyday applications, starting right here in Starkville.
As part of her informative math course, Walters partners with local organizations to help students engage with their community while putting math concepts into practice.
This semester, students collected and analyzed data at Starkville Strong鈥檚 鈥淣eighbors Helping Neighbors鈥 event, speaking with community members and volunteers to better understand what services were most helpful. Starkville Strong is a local nonprofit focused on helping people in the community.
Students surveyed volunteers and clients, asking questions such as how many people were in a household, which times of year were most difficult financially, and whether the event location was accessible. Volunteers were asked about their motivations for helping, whether they would recommend the organization to others, and whether their experiences had shaped their views on food in樱花导航.
Students recently presented their findings to the organization鈥檚 director Brandi Herrington. The data provided meaningful insights to better tailor future events and services. 鈥淚t helps them get to know both their volunteers and clients better by having them answer questions they don鈥檛 always have time to ask collectively,鈥 Walters said.
鈥One of the topics covered in this course is data collection and displays, so the students get a chance to practice creating tables and graphs using real data. Then they have a chance to create a presentation to share with someone who will actually use the information they have collected,鈥 she said.
Walters developed the project a few years ago after connecting with Michelle Garraway, MSU鈥檚 outreach and engagement coordinator, who helps university faculty identify community partners for community-engaged learning. Through hands-on service, Walters is helping students understand that math is more than numbers鈥攊t鈥檚 a language used to make sense of the world.
鈥淭he name of this course is Math in Your World, so the real goal of this and all of my projects is for my students to see where math can be used in their world. One student shared with me she plans to open an art shop one day and now sees how survey data could help her identify popular products or designs that customers want more of or specific designs they like,鈥 said Walters, noting her student saw firsthand how math can directly inform creative business decisions.
For more about MSU鈥檚 College of Arts and Sciences and the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, visit and .
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