Connected Mathematics is a comprehensive, problem-centered curriculum designed for all students in grades 6-8 based on the NCTM standards. The curriculum was developed by the Connected Mathematics Project (CMP) at Michigan State University and funded by the National Science Foundation.
Each grade level curriculum is a full-year program, and in each of the three grade levels, topics of number, algebra, geometry/measurement, probability and statistics are covered in an increasingly sophisticated manner. The program seeks to make connections within mathematics, between mathematics and other subject areas, and to the real world. The curriculum is divided into units, each of which contains investigations with major problems that the teacher and students explore in class. Extensive problem sets are included for each investigation to help students practice, apply, connect, and extend these understandings.
Connected Mathematics addresses both the content and the process standards of the NCTM. The process standards are: Problem Solving, Reasoning and Proof, Communication, Connections and Representation. For example, in Moving Straight Ahead students construct and interpret concrete, symbolic, graphic, verbal and algorithmic models of quantitative and algebraic relationships, translating information from one model to another.
Like other curricula implementing the NCTM standards, Connected Math has been criticized by supporters of traditional mathematics for not directly teaching standard arithmetic methods.
Read more about Connected Mathematics: Research Studies, Controversy
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