Real life examples refer the inclusion of scenarios outside of the mathematics domain to motivate mathematical processes and to promote critical thinking. Examples of this would include finding optimal sizes of chicken coops, calculating the amount of gas required on a trip, and calculating the price of different pizzas.

Benefits to Using Real Life Examples

The usage of real life examples can allow for students to make connections of new mathematics material to familiar situations. This allows for stronger encoding, decreased cognitive load, and increased retrieval efficiency as there are personal ties to the content. Additionally, addressing social issues such as diversity, inclusion, and even the housing market can be shown to students through the application of mathematics in those situations.

Downsides to Using Real Life Examples

Creating examples which are relevant to your particular classes may be time consuming. Likewise, the examples must be carefully created to allow for students to not be placed too far out of their cognitive capabilities. That is, you must be extremely cognizant of your audience!

What does it look like?

Click the image on the right to see a word problem covering projectile motion and maximum heights ——->