The goal of this consortium project led by the University of Nebraska and Oklahoma State University is to integrate the teaching and learning of mathematics and its applications in science, engineering, and quantitative subjects. This will be accomplished through a modern curriculum that provides students with a holistic view of mathematical science coherently tying together fundamental concepts from many disciplines. A critical success factor is a communications structure bringing together educators from many disciplines to share ideas, goals, and strategies. The project will also put in place services and materials that encourage experimentation with and development of curricular innovations as well as new modes of presentation. From the outset the program will focus on the needs of many students from many disciplines and backgrounds. An especially important group will be those students preparing for careers in K-12 teaching. The implementation plan provides for students who change majors or institutions, and it will be easily adaptable to other colleges and universities. The primary product of the Oklahoma-Nebraska Consortium will be an enduring integrated core math, science and engineering curriculum based on a collection of cross-curricular, multimedia mathematics learning module clusters. Each module would be a topic or application in itself, but it would also be part of a larger vertical and horizontal structure. The idea is to draw together and focus horizontally on fundamental concepts from other disciplines that fit naturally with fundamental mathematics concepts learned at the same time. Vertically, students will revisit topics on more than one occasion and in more than one course, showing the power of mathematics as it unfolds. Thus in a given course, the student will witness several applications of a single mathematical idea, but over several years he or she will also encounter a particular application several times with increasing mathematical sophistication. This structure wil l provide motivation for mathematical development, an appreciation for topics students are currently studying, and an understanding of how fundamental ideas from many disciplines fit together. Multimedia, defined broadly to include computer algebra, graphing software, graphing calculators, television, interactive digital video, CD-ROMs, and Internet connections serves both as a device for focusing attention on changes that are needed and as a vehicle for making them. The Consortium schools will combine their strengths in this area throughout the program to establish new and more effective presentations and expand the range of applications that are accessible to students.
