Next school year, South’s IB Math Studies class will be renamed “IB Math Applications and Interpretation” and updated to be more rigorous than the current curriculum. Often, college credit is not given to students who take the IB exam for IB Math Studies and the alterations to this course aim to combat this trend.
The changes to the IB Math Studies course applies to all IB Math Studies classes. The new course will include more complicated studies, including statistics. In addition to this, the course will be split between SL and HL. The SL course will not change much from the current course, but according to a document created by IB, “[The HL course] is intended to meet the needs of students whose interest in mathematics is more practical than theoretical but seek more challenging content.” For South, the courses will be titled “IB Math Applications I” and “IB Math Applications II.”
As of now, students who wish to pursue the IB Diploma at South typically complete Honors Algebra II by or before eleventh grade. Following the completion of Honors Algebra II, these students can choose to enter 1 of 2 courses: IB Math Studies or IB Math Standard Level I.
IB Math Studies students often think highly of IB Math Studies as a class, and some do not want it to change.
“I think that [IB Math Studies] should be kept at South, because kids who are doing full IB already have a lot on their plate, so IB Math Studies kind of lightens the load,” Maria Juarez ‘20 said.
According to the IB website, IB Math Studies gives, “Greater emphasis to developing students’ mathematical reasoning rather than performing routine operations.” Many students currently enrolled in the course agree.
“It’s more focused around getting people ready for the test, but I think the math is a lot of financial stuff, like interest, so that could essentially help someone with more applied math,” Luciana Linares ‘20 said.
The IB website also describes IB Math Studies as a course for those who do not wish to dedicate their lives to the study of mathematics, which is why engineering or mathematics schools do not usually see IB Math Studies as a suitable class for applicants.
“With [the new] IB Math Studies, the bar is going to be raised considerably higher than the current Math Studies,” Cary Takara said.
The new class will debut in the 2019-2020 school year for upperclassman interested in IB math.
