Students and faculty value real-world examples in gateway math, but limited resources and training often lead to procedural instruction¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · qualitative r2 · q2
Currency · newest study 2025 · checked against its sources 2026-10-20 (automated, 1 of 1 entry) · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Students seek relevance to their lives, fields of study, and future careers, while constraints such as limited textbook examples, lack of industry experience, and time pressures push faculty toward standard procedural problems. → Higgin 2025

Evidence¶

Higgin 2025¶

Higgin, T., Holl-Cross, C., Moorjani, A., & Edwards, A., with Cornfield, O., Eisen, S., Hosie, L., McNamara, H., Ray, D., & Tsinnajinnie, B. (2025). Faculty and student perspectives on gateway math courses and courseware. WestEd. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED677594

q2 · i? · qualitative · r2

Secondary qualitative finding from the gateway math study of faculty and student experiences. The report states that "limited resources and training for faculty often lead to procedural instruction" despite valuing real-world examples.

"Students and faculty recognize the importance of real-world examples in gateway math, but limited resources and training for faculty often lead to procedural instruction instead of instruction focused on practical applications."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• The closer training content is to authentic clinical scenarios, the smoother its translation into practice — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
• Students want curriculum connected to real life, careers, and life skills, and report that the majority of the high school curriculum lacks real-world application — related
• Multiple representations and explanations of math concepts aid student understanding, but faculty lack time to source or develop them — related
• Gateway math students benefit from a balance of social, active learning and independent practice, but faculty constraints limit active learning — related
• Learners invest more effort in tasks they perceive as interesting, personally important, or useful to their future goals. — a broader claim this one bears on
• Students valued the independence, real-world relevance, hands-on work, and collaboration in challenge based lessons — related
• A substantial fraction of students reported increased interest in physics and ability to connect physics to their life science majors and careers — related
• Most teacher programs required significant time, effort, and resources, with mean program attrition of 12.69% and rates reaching 66.67%, suggesting time demands may limit real-world translation — related