General Characteristics of IMP®
The Interactive Mathematics Program (IMP) is a four-year, problem-based mathematics curriculum for secondary-school students that focuses on open-ended explorations of complex problems, yet covers the essential content of the traditional Algebra I-Geometry-Algebra II/Trigonometry-Precalculus sequence. The design of this integrated program began in 1989 and was conceived for non-college bound as well as college preparatory students to fulfill the mathematics standards developed by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. The program currently is used in roughly 250 high schools in 21 states.
Development of IMP was initially funded by the California Postsecondary Education Commission and later received major funding from the National Science Foundation for curriculum development, evaluation, and dissemination. Co-directors of the program are Professors Dan Fendel and Diane Resek of the Mathematics Department at San Francisco State University, and mathematics educators Lynne Alper and Sherry Fraser of Sonoma State University Academic Foundation.
Characteristics of the IMP curriculum include an emphasis on interactive group problem solving, an interdisciplinary approach, and the use of manipulatives and graphing calculators, as well as paper-and-pencil work. Teachers must learn new ways to manage a classroom and how to be effective facilitators and observers, since IMP does not rely on the traditional model of a teacher lecturing to students who then work on repetitive exercises.
IMP's approach to mathematics education is designed to prepare students for the workplace of today and the future. Today and tomorrow, if students continue with traditional mathematics preparation, they may be learning specific procedures that will be outmoded by the time they graduate. The challenge is to provide students with ways to learn new procedures on their own so they can adapt to changing skill requirements throughout their careers. Such learning includes, but is not limited to, knowledge of basic mathematics facts.
The student's background must also include a sound grounding in important mathematical ideas, as well as the ability to carry out independent inquiries, to reflect on one's own understanding of new ideas, and to contribute as a member of a working group.
In IMP classrooms, teachers establish performance criteria and evaluate student achievement using multiple sources: unit exams, performance tasks, portfolios, writing assignments, and oral presentations. A teaching priority is to determine whether the work of individual students meets specific expectations, rather than comparing and ranking students to measure achievement.