The purpose of this proposal is to improve basic education in mathematics at the postsecondary level. The underlying philosophy is that students must be actively involved in meaningful, global learning grounded in real life situations. To enact this philosophy, the project will develop two, three credit courses in integrated mathematics/sciences, which will meet general education requirements in mathematics for the Associate and Bachelor's degrees, and serve in the preparation of teachers for grades K-12. Content will be based on critical concepts drawn from College Algebra, College Trigonometry and Statistics. Cooperative and discovery learning, along with the uses of interactive multimedia, will be emphasized. Students will form teams across diverse educational environments, and will conduct long-term studies of critical community problems. Faculty will serve as mentors and coaches. The courses will be developed and team-taught by faculty from all of the higher education institutions in the metropolitan Jacksonville, Florida area, as well as two secondary schools in the two county area. Classes will be conducted in electronic classrooms connected via two-way audio and video. Special emphasis will be placed on participation of women and minorities. Expected outcomes include over 70 faculty and 1,400 students affected by the project.
