This provocative question has become the standard opening gambit in my math teaching. Students’ responses include: climate change, terrorism, HIV/AIDS, Asian flu, energy dependence, over population, animal extinctions and pollution. I go on to explain that a major goal of our math course will be to see how mathematics can be used to address these important societal issues. All to often, mathematics courses focus exclusively on the mathematical content without making linkages to such larger issues.

Today more women are attending college than men; many older, nontraditional students are earning degrees while raising families; and financial aid, scholarships, federal loan programs, and changed policies have opened collegiate doors for students of all income levels and cultural backgrounds.

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