Recognizing that its mathematics program was not aligned with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics standards nor with the State of Illinois goals, Wells High School decided to restructure its mathematics curriculum. We chose the Interactive Mathematics Program (IMP), because high quality professional development with classroom support was available through the University of Illinois at Chicago. This professional development, graphing calculators, classroom supplies, and new textbooks were funded in part through an Amoco Foundation Leadership Grant. This grant was written by the Wells Mathematics Department Chair, Ted Wiecek, and the CLC staff person assigned to Wells, Cappy Ricks.
Instead of being organized into courses such as Geometry, Advanced Algebra, or Trigonometry, IMP comes in "units" that are part of each "year" of the program. This is because the IMP curriculum is integrated and problem-centered. Most units begin with a central problem that is explored and solved over the course of six to eight weeks. As the teacher guides students through a variety of smaller problems within the unit, they develop the mathematical concepts and techniques they need to solve the central problem. A particular unit may combine several branches of mathematics so that students see how important ideas are related to each other.
Some of these central problems are based in practical real-world situations, such as maximizing profits for a business or studying population growth. Others are more fanciful, involving situations like a pennant race or a circus act. Central problems may have connections with history, science, or literature. Because the curriculum is organized around such "big problems," students get a rich look at how mathematics is actually used.
High Student Engagement Leads to High Student Achievement | |
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The Interactive Mathematics Program is not simply a new, reorganized curriculum. Instead of focusing on a single procedure to solve each problem, students are encouraged to use their knowledge to devise multiple approaches. Students produce extended written explanations of their work and are expected to analyze complex written descriptions of a problem. Communication of mathematical ideas is as important as getting the right answer. It is not unusual for IMP students to show increases in their reading and writing abilities that equals the increases in understanding of mathematical concepts. Students also work in groups, making well- designed cooperative learning an essential part of IMP. These group efforts are designed to approximate the efforts of teams in the workplace. IMP looks beyond the classroom and the sequence of mathematics education to the real-world applications of mathematics. |
The Game of Pig | |
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Probability, expected value, and the use of strategies are three of the important themes in The Game of Pig. In The Game of Pig, students explore the world of probability with a dice game called Pig. They experiment as the first step toward finding the best strategy for the game. As the students roll the die, they take notes on their successes and failures (a roll of one reduces the score to zero). They begin to derive principles of probability as they apply to a six-sided die. |
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