Reimagining the Introductory Math Curriculum for Life Sciences Students

Description of an innovative new math curriculum for life science students and a study examining its cognitive and noncognitive impacts, including improved academic performance in math, higher grade outcomes in subsequent science courses, and increased interest in quantitative concepts and skills relevant to 21st-century biology.

The New Math

This chapter explores the first concentrated effort to theorize and defend Madhva’s inversion against traditional interpretive theory. The protagonist of this chapter is Vyāsatīrtha, the great architect of Dualist Vedānta as a major philosophical, social, and political movement under the auspices of the Vijayanagara Empire. Vyāsatīrtha assembles a systematic defense of the power of the closing. He builds his argument out of existing Mīmāṃsā case law, gathering an array of interpretive decisions in which, he argues, it is really the closing that is the deciding factor. He also reexamines the cases traditionally thought to illustrate the power of the opening, demonstrating in each that some interpretive criterion other than sequence really dictates the agreed-upon conclusion. Thus, without actually challenging the existing interpretive conclusions of the entire Mīmāṃsā tradition, Vyāsatīrtha develops (or, in his mind, reveals) a “new math” that both upholds Madhva’s theory and explains a variety of old results.

Desafíos para la preparación de docentes de matemáticas en la tercera década del siglo

Se plantea la urgencia de una transformación de los programas de formación de docentes que enseñan matemáticas en Costa Rica. Para sostener esta postura se analiza la situación de la Reforma Matemática de Costa Rica que comenzó oficialmente en el 2012. Se enfatiza los currículos nacionales desde la segunda mitad del siglo XX, y en particular, se señalan los de 1964 y 1995; en el primer caso un currículo dominado por la reforma de las Matemáticas Modernas (New Math), y en el segundo, programas que se declararon formalmente “constructivistas”. Se afirma que en el 2012 se dio una “puntilla” final a la New Math pero, además, una ruptura con el conductismo y otros “paradigmas” educativos, en convergencia con investigación y experiencia en la Educación Matemática internacional. La crisis educativa nacional desde el 2020 ha replanteado condiciones y ritmos para la Reforma Matemática, en particular debido al grave retroceso de la escolaridad. Aquí es donde se reclama un ajuste en la formación inicial docente.

Identifying Students at Risk Using a New Math Skills Assessment

Math skills are critical for success in economics courses. However, instructors often lack information about the level and extent of their students' underpreparedness in mathematics. In this paper, we describe the development of two new assessments of math skills relevant for introductory and intermediate economics courses. The assessments may be used early in the semester to evaluate students and identify those with weak math skills. With data from introductory and intermediate microeconomics courses, we employ two different methodologies, a simple threshold analysis and a more sophisticated LASSO logit approach, to illustrate how our assessments identify students at risk of underperforming.

Reformy programów i podręczników szkolnych sprzed pół wieku inspirowane prądami tzw. nowej matematyki

The purpose of this paper is to outline the reforms of mathematics education in the spirit of “New Math” in USA, France and to document their features in Poland. Activities and achievements of Zofia Krygowska are listed. Particular attention is paid to two radical reforms: the 1967 textbook on geometry based on set-theory for grade IX and far-reaching changes in primary math education in the 1970s. Excerpts from articles, curricula and textbooks are included.

The Periodic Table needs negative orbitals in order to eliminate quantum weirdness: a new quantum chemistry mathematics

A consensus among quantum experts is that the quantum world is not properly understood. It is a mistake to think we can cure quantum weirdness by tinkering with superficial aspects of quantum mechanics (QM). We propose that nature uses (–ψ) as its wave function, whereas QM uses (+ψ). We propose therefore that the Periodical Table should be changed to negative orbitals (–ψ). Surprisingly, this change makes almost no difference to chemistry on a practical level. The Born rule takes the absolute square of an amplitude to obtain a probability to test in chemistry lab P=|–ψ|2=|+ψ|2. We propose a new math based on (–ψ) that is the mirror image of quantum mathematics. We call it the Theory of Elementary Waves (TEW). The negative sign is not an electrical charge. It has nothing to do with Coulomb’s law. Valence electrons are unchanged. Ions, covalent bonds, dipoles, metals, hydrogen bonding and the hydrogen 21 cm line are unchanged. The octet rule and rules for drawing dot structures of molecules do not change. Amino acids, sugars and DNA do not change their handedness. We cite abundant experimental evidence showing that TEW is correct and QM is wrong.

The OECD as a Booster of National School Governance. The case of New Math in Sweden, 1950-1975

New Math was an international reform movement aimed at thorough changes in school mathematics with respect to both content and teaching methods. This movement started to gain influence in the 1950s, and in the 1960s several countries prepared and implemented their own New Math reforms. This movement not only attracted prominent mathematicians and psychologists but also garnered support from the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The New Math reforms are examples of how OECD supported thorough and broad changes in national systems of education. In most countries, however, the influence of New Math on syllabi began to fade by the 1970s. In this paper, I discuss how the New Math in Sweden reform boosted national governance and changed power relations between the teachers, textbook producers, and the national school administration. I also suggest that OECD continued to support this power structure through the testing enterprises associated with PISA.