The National Consortium for Synergistic Undergraduate Mathematics via Multi-institutional Interdisciplinary Teaching Partnerships (SUMMIT-P) has been working since 2016 to revise and improve the lower division undergraduate mathematics curriculum. The key element of these innovations is interdisciplinary partnerships, with partner disciplines directly involved in decisions about curricular needs. Collectively, the consortium has impacted over 60,000 undergraduate students and 250 college faculty from a wide array of disciplines (www.summit-p.com).

This session is Part 2 of a webinar series is being conducted this Spring to share some of the numerous interdisciplinary classroom activities developed by SUMMIT-P institutions (submitted as an MAA Notes volume, Synergistic Undergraduate Mathematics via Multi-Institutional Teaching Partnerships: Resources from SUMMIT-P for Building Interdisciplinary Collaboration). Sponsored by MAA’s committee on Curriculum Renewal Across the First Two Years (CRAFTY), this series will include four 90-minute webinars that will provide rich discussions and hands-on experiences with the SUMMIT-P classroom activities. Participants also will be invited to become members in the SUMMIT-P consortium, which will provide additional support and activities for using SUMMIT-P classroom modules as well as implementation of proven methods of engagement with partner discipline departments.

Session information:
Business Calculus: Finding the input to give a desired output using Goal Seek
Saint Louis University
To put problems in context requires a “what-if” analysis to find the y that is produced by a given x. Mechanical aids, like Goal Seek in Excel, allow students to address these questions for problems beyond their algebraic skill level. In this webinar, problems with parameters as well as processes that do not simply reduce to a simple formula will be investigated.