Follow the links below to see how these projects are aligned with established educational standards.
The industrial mathematics projects were designed with educational standards in mind: they can fit into any mathematics curriculum. To help teachers justify using industrial mathematics projects in their classroom, the projects were mapped to both the Massachusetts Mathematics Curriculum Framework and the Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. We chose the Massachusetts educational guide because seventy percent of the teachers participating in the MII (Mathematics in Industry Institute) summer workshop are from Massachusetts. The NCTM (National Council of Teaches of Mathematics) standards are included for additional support and for those teachers not from Massachusetts. A matrix summarizes the alignment of each project with these standards:
Included in the matrix are the industrial mathematics project titles, a brief description of the projects, and suggested classes for which the projects can be used. Lastly, the matrix includes the standards and expectations from Massachusetts and NCTM. Below is the breakdown of how the projects were linked to the standards and expectations from Massachusetts and NCTM.
The Massachusetts Mathematics Curriculum Framework portion of the matrix focused on the Areas of Application section within each project. After looking at the Areas of Application, we decided the math classes in which the projects would most likely be used. We then mapped the Areas of Application onto the appropriate learning standards in the Massachusetts Mathematics Curriculum Framework for grades 8, 10, and 12. If the project was designed for upper-level math courses, we did not include any learning standards below grade 10, and if the project was for lower-level math courses, we did not include any learning standards above grade 10.
To create The NCTM portion of the matrix, we numbered the learning standards and expectations listed in the Principles and Standards for School Mathematics. The NCTM learning standards were separated into four grade clusters: Pre-K & 2, 3 ,4, 5, 6,7, 8, 9 ,10,11, 12.
We only focused on grades 6 – 12 and labeled any expectation that fell in grades 6 – 8 as grade 8 and any expectation that fell in grades 9 – 12 as grade 12. After they were numbered, we used the Areas of Application, as well as the learning standards mapped to the Massachusetts Mathematics Curriculum Framework matrix, in order to determine the NCTM expectations covered in each project.