Sputnik Launch in Kazakhstan, on 4 October 1957 by Russia

Image Source: https://www.sciencephoto.com/media/338491/view/sputnik-1-launch

Due to the Sputnik launch in 1957 by Russia, the US needed to reform their curriculum aiming to prepare American people facing the global science competitions. This is called New Math Movement and happened during the fifties to seventies. Some universities transformed their curricula to accommodate the needs. The University of Illinois required engineering students to learn mathematics with more materials at an earlier time. For instance, algebra, trigonometry, and analytic geometry were compulsory in the first year (Hayden, 1981).

More pure and applied math then was incorporated by introducing logic, modern algebra, probability, and statistics in the middle schools. In this era, mathematics was emphasized into meaningful and powerful understanding and skills (Stanic, George, and Kilpatrick, 2003). In line with this, The University of Maryland Mathematics Project (UMMaP) emphasized mathematics teaching on understanding rather than rote memorization in addition to the use of discovery learning (Hayden, 1981).

As a primary concern in this era, mathematics focused on high-tech military, scientific, and engineering careers. However, it did not immediately neglect other fields. For instance, UMMaP conducted psychological research relating to issues in mathematics education (Hayden, 1981). On the other hand, the mathematical curriculum had little effect in promoting political or civic life (Cohen, 2003).

A number of real-life contexts were introduced through textbooks. School Mathematics Study Group (1962) demonstrated the utilization of the Pythagorean Theorem in measuring the distance, height, and rate in some given scenarios. Besides, some mathematics subjects were integrated, such as UMMaP that connected arithmetic and algebra in their program (Hayden, 1981).