There are many difficulties with traditional college algebra. Oklahoma State University mirrors many other campuses in that virtually every student on campus must take some mathematics course, and for the vast majority that course is college algebra. By and large the students don't like the course, and they perform miserably. Success rates are embarrassingly low; perhaps the lowest of any course on campus. Such courses quickly draw the attention of the upper administration. Even worse, for most of the students, this is the last mathematics course they will ever see, and it shapes their perception of what mathematics is. Far too many come away with the idea that mathematics is no more than the manipulation of meaningless formulas into other meaningless formulas. Little wonder that much of the population thinks mathematics is stupid and pointless. As mathematicians, we see mathematics as just the opposite; a beautiful discipline whose manifestations abound in nature, science and many other fields. I am personally on a campaign to give a much larger segment of the population a little taste of the real beauty and utility of mathematics.

In 1995, through a National Science Foundation Grant, Bruce Crauder, Alan Noel, and I started a project designed to answer some basic questions about college algebra, at least on our own campus. Our first question, “Why do students enroll in the course?” was easily answered. Their majors require it for graduation.