26 - Alternatives to the One-Size-Fits-All Precalculus/College Algebra Course

Summary

Introduction

How do we want our future legislators, our future news reporters, our country's future parents to feel about mathematics? Do we want them to believe it is a collection of rituals, requiring special skills only achievable by a few and of no practical value? Or would we prefer that they see mathematics as a way of describing many aspects of the world, central to many issues that will affect their lives, and a subject in which they can achieve whatever level of proficiency they need?

If the last mathematics course students take is a traditional college algebra or precalculus course, the vast majority of the students leave feeling defeated in their ability to do mathematics and mystified as to the use or value of the subject. As someone at the conference, Rethinking the Preparation for Calculus, said, “There's something very wrong if the last course a student takes in a subject is named ‘pre’ anything.” And yet, there is a wealth of mathematics, accessible to students at this level, that is being applied to a wide range of contemporary issues.

Can one size fit all?

A cornerstone of the American democracy is that all children should be given equal opportunity. Unlike many countries that start directing children to different academic tracks by age 12 or earlier, American education treats all children as potential national leaders. We try to give them a mathematical background that allows them to become top scientists. As a result, the standard school mathematics track leads to calculus.