Mathematics INstruction using Decision Science and Engineering Tools

MINDSET (Mathematics INstruction using Decision Science and Engineering Tools) is a multiyear project involving collaboration between engineers, educators, and mathematicians at three universities in two states. Through a partnership with secondary teachers, the MINDSET project staff has created a ground-breaking new mathematics curriculum for fourth-year high school students using mathematical-based decision-making tools from the fields of operations research and industrial engineering. High school students are presented a series of real-world problem contexts with the purpose of making the underlying mathematics more relevant to them and allowing them to model the situations and actively do mathematics. This innovative new integration of mathematics and engineering at the high school level provides new opportunities for students, who have not been successful in the abstract world of mathematics, to learn to enjoy and to want to pursue a more applied form of mathematics. This paper reports the results of the nationwide implementation of this engineering-based mathematics course.