Today’s Students, Mathematics, and Society’s Need

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Nowadays secondary school students must prepare to live in a society that requires a significant understanding and appreciation of mathematics. Managing in the real world would be difficult if not impossible without the necessary knowledge, skills, and applications of mathematics. The demands of society require much more of secondary school mathematics students than merely being able to compute the total of a grocery bill or determine whether a personal checkbook is balanced. Students must be able to apply mathematical skills to real-life problem-solving situations.

For example, important principles in probability and statistics may be connected to the physical world, which may require individuals to collect, record, interpret, analyze, communicate, and represent data sets crucial to their decision-making processes. The interpretation of a graph as part of a medical diagnosis may influence a vital decision involving the health and well-being of an individual. Key concepts in numeration and algebra may help facilitate important personal financial decisions. The use of mathematical design enables the ongoing growth of computer technology, including the continued research and development of hardware, software, and further advancement of the Internet and telecommunication services. Careers and occupations in computer technology, business, the sciences, and engineering necessitate a more intense and multifaceted mathematical knowledge base than in the past. According to John Glenn, former astronaut and U.S. Senator, mathematics and science will also supply the core of knowledge that the next generation of innovators, producers, and workers in every country will need if they are to solve the unforeseen problems and dream the dreams that will define America’s future (U.S. Department of Education, 2000).