New mathematics was an educational movement during the late 1950’s and the 1960’s that attempted to change the teaching of mathematics in the United States. The growth of space exploration, computer technology, and other scientific fields had created a need for better training in mathematics. To meet this need, several independent groups of mathematicians and educators in the United States tried to design better math curriculums. Their general goals were to modernize course content, give students a deeper understanding of mathematical principles, and encourage creative problem solving.
Traditional math programs stressed the development of basic computational skills–such as how to add, subtract, multiply, and divide–through repetitious drills and memorization. New math programs urged students to understand concepts rather than learn rules. To provide a better understanding of numbers, for example, many programs taught students to work problems in numeration systems with bases other than 10.
The educators who developed the new programs agreed on general goals but disagreed on specific goals and methods. As a result, many different curriculums were created. All became known as the new mathematics or new math.
Because of several obstacles, however, few schools established effective new math programs. For example, many institutions did not give teachers an adequate opportunity to learn the new material. Textbooks continued to present old methods and goals. Sections on new math topics–such as bases other than 10 and sets (collections of objects or ideas)–were merely added to the old lessons (see Set theory ).
New math topics were often taught with the old focus on computational skills rather than on the learning of concepts. For example, teachers asked students to translate numbers from base 10 to another base rather than work math problems entirely within the non-10 base.
During the 1970’s, students’ achievement scores declined, and many people blamed new math. New math fell out of favor and was replaced by an even stronger focus on basic skills. Thus, new math was never widely implemented.
