Today’s mathematics curricula and education goals should reflect the importance of mathematical literacy. Therefore this unit will attempt to reflect some of these new directions both in the content and the method of teaching.
The new direction can be summarized in the following statement
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Students should learn the value of mathematics.
To reduce math anxiety, students should become more confident in their abilities to do the subject. Students should become more confident and develop skills as mathematic problem solvers. Students learn to communicate and reason mathematically. Students should be able to think of diverse ways to solve a problem.
The mathematics curriculum should also reflect the mathematical needs of the next decade. Today’s students will be working with tools and in an environment that will need an understanding of more complex thinking skills. Teachers and curriculum planners must understand and anticipate the changing needs of industries and the society.
Henry Pollak
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(1987) summarized the mathematical needs and expectations for employers in the industrial sector of the future.
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1. The ability to set up problems with the appropriate operations
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2. Knowledge of a variety of techniques to approach and work on problems.
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3. Understanding the underlying mathematical features of a problem
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4. The ability to work with others on a problem.
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5. The ability to see the applicability of mathematical ideas to common and complex problems.
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6. Preparation for open problem situation since most real life problems are not well formulated.
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7. The belief in the utility and the value of mathematics
