Keith Devlin, Stanford University, brings math education to the table. He describes a 4-year project for improving high school math proficiency. The good news is that the big fix turns out to be possible. The bad news is that engaging for-profit enterprises in the project won’t work. Math success isn’t about skills, it’s a way of thinking that can be taught with cognitive simulation via video games. However, this content is expensive to develop and commercial companies won’t touch it. So here’s an example of a proven need, a real solution, and a clear path to success, yet not enough monetary return to interest those who could make it happen. This is the dilemma.
