Dialogue-based Activities and Manipulatives to Engage Liberal Arts Majors in Mathematics

This article presents four inquiry-based learning activities developed for a liberal arts math course. The activities cover four topics: the Pythagorean theorem, interest theory, optimization, and the Monty Hall problem. Each activity consists of a dialogue, with a theme and characters related to the topic, and a manipulative, that allow students to physically interact with the mathematics they are doing. The overall goal is to create a new way for liberal arts students to engage in mathematics, while simultaneously cultivating an appreciation of the subject.