It expands the content scope of high school mathematics. It focuses on developing understanding. It can serve students of varied mathematical backgrounds in heterogeneous classrooms. The IMP curriculum is problem-centered. Units of the IMP curriculum generally begin with a central problem or theme.
Students explore and solve that problem over the course of the unit.
These are a sampling of IMP's central unit problems. These problems are generally too complex for students to solve initially. As teachers guide them through a variety of smaller problems, students develop the mathematical ideas and techniques they need in order to solve the central problem. It is common for challenges in later units to build on earlier units, requiring students to apply what they have previously learned in ever more sophisticated and complex ways. Because the IMP curriculum is problem-based, students get a rich experience of the way mathematics is actually used.