Table 7. Students’ perceptions of the course.

Theme One: Satisfaction Student Two: “Overall, this course was well organized, and kept me interested. I can say that I would recommend it to my friends because I am satisfied”. Student Five: “Looking at everything together, this course gave me a nice experience. I was satisfied with the instructor who put me first, and truly listened to what I had to say. The instructor helped me with many activities. Now, I am satisfied with my skills in information identification, organization, and presentation”. Student Seven: “I am content with the activities we performed throughout the semester. They were challenging. They were satisfying. I had a great deal of conversation with my peers that satisfied my cravings for collaboration and deliberation”.

Theme Three: Enjoyment Student Three: “I enjoyed the puzzles. I loved the mysteries. The instructor had an enjoyable style of telling stories. I learned how to make my talk more fun and engaging. This course was not only about math, it was teaching us how to enjoy doing math for life applications”. Student Six: “The most thing I liked about the course was working with peers. I learned a lot from my classmates. They helped me when I could not understand something. I really enjoyed getting to know people, and I am friends with them now. They help me pick courses and make me a better thinker”. Student Eight: “Taking all things considered, the class was enjoyable. I liked the mystery games. I needed to find the clues, stick them together, and present a holistic story backed by good argumentation. I want to become a forensic criminal justice professional. This course was about math, but it taught me how to think deeply”.

Theme Two: Engagement Student One: “There was no single session throughout the semester where I felt inactive. In every class period, the instructor had us work on something. This kept everyone preoccupied and engaged with the materials, activities, and the instructor”. Student Four: “I was doing a task for most of the time I spent in class. Even at home, I had something to do. The instructor tried his best to keep everyone busy working on something. From my observation, every student around me was engaged either in doing a problem or with a peer to solve a problem”. Student Eight: “I felt overwhelmed at times during the semester. I was working on a project, puzzle, game, or a mystery. The course kept me working all the time. I worked hard for this course. I truly could say that I was engaged with all my senses”.

Theme Four: Relevance Student One: “Everything we worked on was from real life. The instructor gave us examples from dealing with vendors to having money deposited in the bank. We tried to interact with real statistical data to formulate hypotheses and questions to be answered. I feel that the instructor made a special effort to make the course materials as real as possible”. Student Four: “The real-world independent project taught me how to actually examine real-world issues. I practiced how to formulate hypotheses, think of relevant data sources, their reliability, and make arguments based on the”. Student Six: “I liked the investing examples provided by the instructor. I also enjoyed trying to practice my investment skills using hypothetical scenarios based on real world stories. I wanted to understand how loans work in real-life, and this course offered many puzzles and questions dealing with banking”.