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Colleges Can Make Calculus a Gateway — Not a Gatekeeper — to STEM Fields

ED Surge

With science and technology jobs expected to grow twice as fast as other occupations over the next decade amid rapidly shifting demographics , creating a robust and diverse pipeline into STEM fields is essential to ensuring U.S. But neither will happen unless we address the fundamental gatekeeper to all STEM fields: undergraduate calculus.

Calculus 362
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The Math Revolution You Haven’t Heard About

ED Surge

Math professor Martin Weissman is rethinking how his university teaches calculus. Over the summer, the professor from the University of California at Santa Cruz, spent a week at Harvard to learn how to redesign the mathematics for life sciences courses his institution offers. There are math requirements for those majors.

Calculus 363
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UCLA Life Sciences Revamped How It Teaches Math. Is It an Example Others Should Follow?

ED Surge

About 10 years ago, Alan Garfinkel, a professor in the life sciences department at the University of California, Los Angeles, got a call. It was from his dean, who said that the department had inspected their freshman calculus course, “Calculus for Life Sciences.” A Barrier to STEM?

Calculus 338
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Evidence Is Mounting That Calculus Should Be Changed. Will Instructors Heed It?

ED Surge

Calculus is a critical on-ramp to careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Good news: There's mounting evidence that changing calculus instruction works for the groups usually pushed out of STEM. At least, that’s according to a randomized study recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Science.

Calculus 323
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Readers Respond: Does Fixing the Leaky STEM Pipeline Require Calculus To Adapt?

ED Surge

The need to strengthen the science, technology, math and engineering (STEM) careers pipeline has received renewed interest lately. A number of instructors say it’s partly reconsidering how calculus, a crucial step toward STEM careers and often a “weed out” course in higher ed, is taught. The issue is algebra skills. Great huh.”

Calculus 274
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Why Do Underrepresented Students Struggle to Get the Math They Need for College?

ED Surge

Students who don’t know that colleges prioritize calculus find themselves at a disadvantage in college admissions, according to “ Integral Voices: Examining Math Experiences of Underrepresented Students ,” a recent report from Just Equations, a California-based policy institute focused on making math more equitable.

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The Role of Mathematics in Education

Ask a Tech Teacher

Or perhaps, amidst a particularly challenging calculus problem, you’ve questioned how this abstract world of numbers and symbols could possibly influence your future career? College and Mathematics: Challenges The Complexity Cliff Remember the first time you looked at a calculus problem in college? Well, you’re not alone.