math

Math--how to teach it, how to use it, who needs it, and how to keep it from being a barrier between students and jobs. These are all topics of discussion at the Needed Math, a National Science Foundation Advanced Technological Education Funded Conference. This conference, held from January 12-15, 2018 brought together employers in three STEM fields (biotechnology, manufacturing technology, and information and communication technology), post-secondary instructors of technical subjects related to those fields and mathematics educators. Employers surveyed for the Manufacturing Institute's 2014 Skills Gap study report a "sizeable gap" between the talent they need and that available on... Read more

In spring 2013, the National Center for Education and the Economy (NCEE) issued the results of a research study that analyzed the math and English requirements for community college students entering nine popular occupational fields, including biotechnology, nursing, computer programming, and business. The study addressed the question: "What does it really mean to be college and work ready"? I contributed to the research as the only non-mathematician on the mathematics panel. I will briefly summarize my thoughts relating to the math portion of the study; you can download the full report and reach your own conclusions at https://ncee.org/book-report/what-does-it-really-mean-to-be-college-and-work-ready/ .... Read more