Special Attributes of General Education Mathematics Courses
Adopted unanimously at the

February 23, 1996 Statewide Mathematics Meeting



The following statement was approved at the meeting:

"Based on the Principles of the Chief Academic Officers, the mathematicians statewide submit the following guidelines for content and standards of general education mathematics courses:

All general education mathematics courses must

  1. Have performance expectations demonstrating a level of mathematical maturity beyond high school Algebra II (intermediate algebra).
  2. Include development of problem-solving skills, analysis and synthesis, which introduce students to "ways of thinking" in mathematics.
  3. Introduce mathematical concepts and techniques that can be applied in further study of mathematics and/or other disciplines.
  4. Explore mathematical applications to other disciplines.

It is hoped that approval these attributes and their acceptance by the public institutions in the state of Maryland will help to avoid challenges to transferability of mathematics courses. In the event of challenges, this is the list of attributes that a committee of mathematics faculty will need to refer to in determining the status of the challenged course."

 

[At the meeting, 21 public Maryland institutions were represented, including 16 community and junior colleges and 5 universities.]