MMAP units are based on a new way of thinking about mathematical applications. Traditionally, applications were something that came at the end of the chapter, in the form of a few of those dreaded word problems, where students practiced the algorithm they'd just learned to do. This is not the kind of application you will find in our units. Each application is a "slice" of the real world that has potential for engaging young people in mathematics, rather than a list of mathematical skills to be learned. Students work within a scenario with a problem or provocative question that encourages them to create and analyze designs. These scenarios provide plenty of opportunities for mathematics to be used and learned along the way.

In MMAP Application units, students assume the role of math-using professionals. Each student plays a role in a group, and each group in the class-wide activity, forming a "community" of architects, population biologist, crytographers or cartographers. Through group work, shared goals, and discourse, mathematical problems emerge. Because understanding the math can be helpful in solving a real problem, the math becomes functional. As discussion about the problems takes place, new mathematical understanding emerges. This understanding is extended and connected to standard mathematical representations in math activity handouts within the Application units and in MMAP Extension Units. More fanciful contexts and pure mathematics are the contexts for learning math in MMAP Investigations.

No matter what we are doing, we are learning. The question, then, is not "How do we get young people to learn?"; rather, "What are young people learning in our classes?" In traditional school mathematics, youngsters assume the role of students: they learn to carry out pre-existing algorithms to solve problems that are carefully matched to the algorithm, not necessarily understanding the algorithm or the problem. When people use math outside of school, however, roles are different: they need to define and understand the problem situation for themselves and then figure out how math can help them solve the problem. This changes the character of the math that is learned We have seen that middle schoolers find reasons and resources for learning mathematics when they participate in activities like those of people who use math in their work.