Business Math: A Step-by-Step Handbook

Аннотация

Our students struggle with completing math exercises from beginning to end. They are unfamiliar with mathematical thought process and the techniques involved. A systematic approach is needed to help students learn how to think. This textbook’s core design centers around a structured thinking process termed The PUPP Model (Plan, Understand, Perform, and Present). This process is found throughout the textbook in every guided example to help students develop a step-by-step problem-solving approach. 1. Plan. One of the most common difficulties is when students rush into calculations and have no clue what they are solving for! This step focuses and reminds students about what it is they are doing. The goal is to encourage students to recognize what question has been asked and what variable(s) need to be calculated. 2. Understand. It is critical to know what you are doing and how you are going to get there. Before performing calculations, this step urges students to think through the entire process required in order to logically arrive at the solution. There are two critical elements: i. What You Already Know. Students must read through the question and assign the correct values to appropriate variables. If necessary, diagrams such as timelines are drawn to help visualize the information being provided and what to do with that information. ii. How You Will Get There. Everybody needs a roadmap. This step focuses students on describing the steps, procedures, and formulas required to arrive at the solution. 3. Perform. This stage is all about the mathematics. Students execute their roadmap and perform the needed calculations and procedures to arrive at the root(s) of the problem.