Further, once teachers see the benefits to student learning of these interdisciplinary projects they want to use more and there is a shift of emphasis in the classroom from content coverage to student-centered learning. In short, faculty members change the way they teach. The resultant open communication across disciplines, the desire to connect mathematics to other disciplines, and the changes in the way we teach accomplish over time our desired cultural change. At West Point, we see these ILAPs bringing about cultural change and accomplishing our goals. In each of the interdisciplinary projects used in our curriculum, we see each of our five educational threads coming together.
Communication is needed both orally and in writing.
Reasoning and modeling are needed in the formulation and analysis of the solution process. The use of technology is empowering by enabling the tackling of difficult problems. Students learn to value mathematics as a human endeavor used for solving real world problems. Further, through the projects we can connect to mathematics learned in the past, extend to mathematics understood more completely in the future, and connect to other disciplines. A next step is to effect change in the curriculum.