INTERACTIVE MATH PROGRAM

Interactive Math Program

Introduction

The Interactive Mathematics Program (IMP) is a four-year, problem-based mathematics curriculum for high schools, designed to meet the needs of both college-bound and non-college-bound students. It was one of several curricula funded by the National Science Foundation and designed around the 1989 National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) standards. The curriculum replaces the traditional Algebra I-Geometry-Algebra II/Trigonometry-Precalculus sequence. The IMP books were authored by Dan Fendel and Diane Resek, professors of mathematics at San Francisco State University, and by Lynne Alper and Sherry Fraser.

Designed in response to national reports pointing to the need for a major overhaul in mathematics education,[1][2][3] the IMP curriculum is markedly different in structure, content, and pedagogy from courses more typically found in the high school sequence.

Each book of the curriculum is divided into five- to eight-week units, each having a central problem or theme. This larger problem serves as motivation for students to develop the underlying skills and concepts needed to solve it, through solving a variety of smaller related problems.

Each year of the IMP curriculum integrates the algebraic, geometric, and trigonometric topics traditionally taught in separate courses, as well as topics from statistics and probability that are not included in many traditional programs.

There is an emphasis on students working together in collaborative groups. Together, they tackle problems that are usually too complex to be solved by any one individual.

The development of communication skills is embedded throughout the curriculum, through the use of group and whole class discussions, the use of writing to present and clarify mathematical solutions, and formal oral presentations.

The IMP curriculum expects students to make nearly daily use of a scientific graphing calculator. Students become comfortable with the calculator to such an extent that a Year 4 project tasks students with using their knowledge of trigonometry, matrix algebra, ...