University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to Unveil New Styles of Teaching Math

"The university hopes its new method accommodates students struggling to pass math." continues WUWM Milwaukee Public Media. 

UWM will incorporate more real world applications of math.
Photo: WUWM Milwaukee Public Media

 
The subject has been holding some students back, even though they may not need it for their intended career.

Math has been a daunting subject for students like Andrea Chavez. “He didn’t explain it, in a manner that, it made sense,” Chavez says.

Chavez was planning to graduate from UWM this past May, but she failed her math class - a requirement for her graduation. “Which caused me to not graduate on time, which means that I now graduate in December of 2014,” Chavez says.

Chavez has been part of a trend at UWM, according to math Chair Kyle Swanson.

“By in large, students who are coming in testing two semesters below college level in math, only about a third of them would actually ever pass a college credit level math class at UWM,” Swanson says.

UWM’s new math system creates three new pathways, based on placement scores. Swanson says real world problems will be mixed in with math, to help students grasp math is in their lives.
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Source: WUWM