Blog

College Calculus courses are widely-known as “weed-out” courses, and literature reviewed in Just Equations’ recent report—by myself, Melodie Baker and Francesca Henderson in partnership with the California Education Learning Lab—substantiates that reputation. But what can colleges do to better support students taking Calculus and pursuing an interest in STEM?

College calculus courses have long been viewed as weed-out courses. Unfortunately, that reputation is all too accurate, as we found in research for Just Equation’s latest report. At the same time, we uncovered numerous promising strategies for ensuring calculus instruction can nurture a more diverse generation of math and science talent in California and beyond.

What do we mean when we refer to “rigor” in mathematics? The term as it is often used—to stand in for math content that is abstract or abstruse, homework that is grueling, and classes that only some are worthy to take—bears little resemblance to what many math educators have in mind. And such depictions only muddy public understanding about math education and reinforce the nation that math isn’t for everyone.

What is it about psychology and math? For years, I’ve been following colleges working to align math requirements with students’ majors. The point is to ensure that students can acquire quantitative reasoning skills relevant to their fields of study. One outcome of this work to diversify math requirements is to reduce the use of Calculus as a gatekeeper.

Recent analyses point to a need to rethink our assumptions about the role of advanced algebra prerequisites even when it comes to STEM success.