Independence Day

by

Joe Marusa

Procedure

Day 1 in class: 

1. Choose two people who you will room with.  Make sure they match you in  responsibility level.  After all, you’ve got to live with them! 

2. Once you’re in a group, decide who will look for what kind of items (furniture, appliances, and entertainment).

3. Get contact information (phone numbers, e-mail addresses) from your roommates.

Day 1 homework:

Begin looking for the ten items in your category using the links under Stores in Resources.  Don’t forget to list prices and URLs (site addresses)!  Be prepared to discuss your findings in class tomorrow with your roommates.  Keep in mind that there are certain items, such as refrigerators, beds, and stoves, which are more important than others. The items you choose should be representative of the category of items you are searching for.

Day 2 in class:

1. You will have time to finish looking for and listing your ten items and prices in your category. 

2. Once your ten items are chosen, make a copy of your list for you and both of your roommates.

3. Begin discussing priorities for purchasing your items.

Day 2 homework:

Look at your list and the lists of your roommates.  Start developing your own ideas about how the $7000 should be spent.  Be prepared to discuss this in class with your roommates.

Day 3 in class:

1. Make a decision on which items should be bought.  Come to a consensus as a group. 

2. List your reasoning as an aid in formulating an in class presentation.

3. Once you have your items chosen, go to the Resources section and look under Credit Cards. 

4. You’ll need to decide which card to use as a group and record the interest rate (“Regular APR”), annual fee, name of the card, and URL of the site.

Day 3 homework:

1. Make sure your group is caught up on all the previous steps.

2. Each group member should calculate the amount owed on the items purchased with credit.  Use the formula A = P(1 + r/t)^nt, where P is what you borrow, r is the APR (remember to divide by 100 since it is a percent), t is the number of times per year interest is compounded (monthly=12, daily=360, hourly=8640), and n is the number of years interest is earned.  Most credit card companies compound interest daily, so let t = 360.  You are borrowing the money for six months, which is one half of a year. Therefore let  n = 0.5 for this calculation.

3. If the credit card you chose has an annual fee, add one half of that to the amount you owe on the credit card.

Day 4 in class:

1. Make sure the group is caught up on all previous steps.

2. Check each other’s calculations.  If everyone doesn’t match, check each other’s work.  Make sure your group arrives at a correct balance for the credit card after six months.

3. Talk about each person’s role in the presentation for day 6.  For the presentation, you’ll need to justify your purchases to the class.  Each person will talk about items from his or her part of the project.

Day 4 homework:

Build your part of the presentation.  Also, organize all materials that the group will need to write the report.  This includes original lists of items, the list of chosen items, chosen credit card, APR, annual fee and interest calculations, and URLs.

Day 5 in class:

1. Decide exactly how the presentation will be conducted.  Make sure everybody gets an equal amount of speaking time and that the presentation will be 4 to 7 minutes in length.  Choose one person to be spokesperson who will introduce and close the presentation.

2. Decide who will type the final report.  All the information should already be accessible, so this should just be a matter of typing up what is there and organizing it.  This should not be the same person as the spokesperson.

3. Decide who should make visual aids for the presentation.  This should be the person who is not the spokesperson and is not typing the report.  Visual aids should be neat and legible.  They should illustrate what is being talked about during the presentation.

Day 5 homework:

Do the job that you and your roommates agreed upon.  Be creative and effective.  Make sure to do the best job you can!  Your independence depends on it!  Day 6 will begin the presentations.