Letter of 4-11-94

Maricopa Mathematics Consortium

Mathematics instruction must propel all students into personal, academic, and employment success.

 

Alan Jacobs, Project Director
jacobs@sc.maricopa.edu

A National Science Foundation Project administered by the Maricopa County Community College District.

Letter of 4-11-94
Maricopa Mathematics Consortium (M2C)

Table of Contents

 A Systemic Problem
 So What needs to be Changed?
 But What IS the problem?

[To return to the table of contents, click on any green bar.]

 

What do we mean that the problem with math education is a "systemic" problem?

		It's not just the curriculum.
		It's not just the faculty.
		It's not just the pedagogy.
		It's not just placement.
		It's not just student preparation.
		It's not just assessment/testing.
		It's not just student's personal math anxiety.
		It's not just student's study skills.
		It's not just student time on task.
		It's not just the cynical use of mathematics requirements as a sorting mechanism by colleges/programs/departments.
		It's not just the mindset in society that most people can get by without doing quantitative work.
		It's not just our definition of mathematics that allows people to be proud of their failures.
		It's not just the perception of mathematics as an isolated subject.
		It's not just lack of diffusion of mathematics into other studies.

 

Changing any one or two of the above will not solve the problem. So, what needs to be changed?

 

The expectations/goals of mathematics education to, for example, "mathematics as a tool for understanding how the world works," and for "communicating that understanding."

 

Our understanding of who should know mathematics, to include all, not just the few who survive.

 

The curriculum, pedagogy, faculty, etc. to match the changed expectations.

 

The community's, students', and parents' expectations about what education is.

But what is the "problem" of mathematics education?

The problem is not that too few are passing math courses.

It is that too few are learning the genuinely valuable knowledge, skills, principles, applications, approaches that they can use throughout life to become smarter employees, consumers, citizens, and learners.

 

Disclaimer
Page Contact: Alan Jacobs
Last Date Modified: July 1, 1999