Dive Brief:
- A new math course at California's Long Beach Polytechnic High School — focused on “mathematical modeling,” or the application of mathematics to real-world problems — allows students to skip Cal State Long Beach's math placement test and other math classes in majors that require little math.
- Called “Math 103,” the class also satisfies general education requirements at other CSU campuses.
- Some 16% of Cal State Long Beach freshman in 2014 needed to take at least one remedial math course last year, while 27% of all CSU students needed remedial math.
Dive Insight:
The new math coursework is steeped in practical application, helping students think about problems “such as whether it would be better to buy or lease a car.”
One student, Alyssa Wallace, said that “I think applying the basic math most students know by freshman year to real-world situations is more helpful and important than that trigonometric function you won’t be using for the rest of your life unless you become a scientist or inventor that needs to know about frequencies and waves.”
Real-world learning and tackling open-ended problems is a trend in education now, with specialized learning programs like Big Picture Schools and novel approaches like state-mandated Personalized Learning Plans (PLP’s) starting to catch on.