Material Detail

Teresa Madyun’s Stair Design: Solving Two-Step Equations, Solving Multi-Step Equations is a “drill and practice” type of instructional resource written for 9th grade alternative education math students. This stand-alone instructional resource is straightforward and easy to use. It would be effective when used for its intended purpose as a source of additional practice or review in preparation for a test. In addition to the practice examples presented, the author provides a hyperlink to an on-line game called Hoopshoot which challenges students to solve two-step equations. The link to this game worked fine, however, when I clicked on it, I was then “kicked out” of the PowerPoint. It would be better to put this slide at the end of the PowerPoint so there would be no need for the user to reopen the presentation. One of my favorite parts of the StAIR was in the author’s selection of audio positive reinforcement for correct answers. These were “laughing out loud” moments for me and I’m sure would also be fun for students! I would have liked to see some “reteaching” on the slides for incorrect answers and the submission to MERLOT could be improved on by providing a more detailed description of the lesson plan as well as an accompanying graphic.

I navigated through the presentation easily and found it to be very engaging. Categorizing it as drill and practice seems appropriate. I added a new math resource to my bookmarks as well: math-play.com. Thanks. The slide transitions and feedback help motivate the user forward. The examples were appropriate. However, I couldn’t get the video solutions to play. I thought the game links were fun and appropriate. I could see myself getting distracted and practicing too long. I liked the variety of instructional techniques, including paper and pencil to solve the quiz questions. I would suggest adding some audio instructions the slides to assist students with reading difficulties.

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