PROCEEDINGS OF THE 18TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE ON RESEARCH IN UNDERGRADUATE MATHEMATICS EDUCATION
2015
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Can mathematics be a STEM pump?
Page: 385
The national goal of increasing STEM majors is well-established. As noted in “Rising Above the Gathering Storm” (National Academies, 2008); “Preparing the Next Generation of STEM Innovators: Identifying and Developing Our Nation’s Human” Capital (National Science Board, 2010) and several other recent publications (National Academy of Science, 2011; CRS Report, 2008; National Academy of Science, 2010; National Academy of Science, 2012), it is widely recognized that sustaining the economic leadership of the United States over the next two decades will require a robust supply of bachelor’s degree graduates in the STEM disciplines. Certain specific courses within the first two years in mathematics and the sciences are rate-limiting for students that have a realistic chance of success in a major in science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (STEM), but “bog down” at a particular point in their trajectory of courses. Identification of such points, and application of resources to improve student success at those points, can dramatically improve retention in STEM.