Chapter 21: Expectations and Disciplinary Blends

In K–12 and higher education math and science courses, students encounter and experience evidence-based conclusions (NGSS, 2013) and these encounters and experiences nurture their inferential reasoning (Makar et al., 2011). At the undergraduate level, in particular, course content is chosen and designed to prepare students for their vocation, for future coursework, and/or for informed citizenry (Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education—American Academy of the Arts and Sciences, 2017). To this end, professional organizations, such as the Mathematical Association of America (MAA), have attempted to standardize course content of math “service courses,” which support students’ knowledge for their work in non-math disciplines (e.g., Saxe & Braddy, 2015). Calculus I may be a service course for students majoring in biology, while Statistics I may be a service course for students majoring in psychology.