ABE Contextualized Math Modules: Medical Assistant, Part 1—Managing Time and Measuring with the Metric System
The module teaches basic mathematics concepts within the context of the Health Science career cluster using routine tasks performed by a medical assistant.
The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges in partnership with Washington Online supported the development of a series of contextualized math modules for Adult Basic Education (ABE). Written by instructors from across the state, each module consists of a PowerPoint file containing self-paced instructional content. The files can be shared with students for direct use. Instructors can also use the PowerPoint file as a basis for lesson presentation. The series teaches mathematics concepts within the context of occupations spanning the Health Science, Transportation, and Architecture/Construction career clusters. The entire series of 12 modules is accessible at www.sbctc.ctc.edu/college/_e-abepd_teachingresources.aspx
The medical assistant module provides scenario-based instruction to teach the mathematics concepts involved in calculating and converting time units and converting metric liquid units, which are tasks commonly performed by medical assistants. Module content is divided into four major tasks typically performed by medical assistants. Each task presents a scenario-based problem and teaches the math skills essential to solving it. Practice problems are provided for both skill development and application to authentic situations with answers available to allow learners to check their work. An assessment is included at the conclusion of the module. Audio narration is provided for the workplace scenarios to support lower-level readers and ELL students.
Students will be able to: (1) Add, subtract, multiply, and divide time (in hours and minutes); (2) Convert hours to minutes and minutes to hours; (3) Add, subtract, multiply, and divide liters and milliliters; and (4) Convert metric units using a conversion table.
This resource was reviewed and vetted through the Designing Instruction for Career Pathways initiative of the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education under Contract No. ED-CFO-10-A-0072/0001.
