Since the late 1960s, national reports have indicated U.S. students have lagged severely behind both students in the former Soviet Union, as well as China. And while the finger points to more than just decades of inconsistent funding for mainstream education, it doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of the challenges faced by adult learner and GED programs.

The goal of many adult-learning programs is to help those students who return to the classroom—for varied reasons—gain the skills and confidence they need to meet and succeed in college and career, particularly in math.

But many adult learners with life experience don't always see the connection between solid math skills and their chosen career or vocational path. While it's relatively easy to convince a student computer skills are necessary to negotiate the information highway, it's a little harder to get them to buy-off on the idea that algebra and geometry can help them succeed in life.

So how can these programs pull together the missing pieces needed to adequately prepare adult learners—in a relatively short amount of time—to enter a rapidly advancing academic and vocational world?

One tool is contextual teaching and learning, emphasizing higher-level thinking and knowledge transfer across multiple academic and career disciplines. This approach encourages students to relate what they learn in the classroom to real world applications and make the critical connections between school and lifelong success.

And mathematics for adult learners can be the perfect platform.

"The opportunity for students to experience mathematics in a context is important," states a report from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics. "Real world contexts provide opportunities for students to connect what they are learning to their own environment. Students' experiences at home, at school, and in their community provide contexts for worthwhile mathematical tasks."

By connecting coursework to the relevance of students' future lives, adult-education instructors can present subject matter in a way the student finds valuable.

Contextual learning can also be combined with interactive learning, making an even more powerful impact and leverage the different learning modes.

"I try to set up scenarios that will provide the students with an opportunity to help each other," explains Laura Kessler, SUN Instructor for Community College of Denver. "The more interaction the students have with each other, the easier it is to keep the class engaged in learning. Students love teaching each other and it makes them feel confident. I also try to think of creative methods to teach math fundamentals. For example, this semester I brought in my waffle iron and made waffles for the students. I used the time it took each waffle to cook as the basis for a group worksheet on improper fractions, mixed numbers and percents."

And the possibilities are endless. It's easy to take fractions, percentages, geometry, and even algebraic expressions into the contextual format.

In short, it's using the familiar to describe and illustrate the unfamiliar and the students really seem to relate.

"I liked the ‘waffle math’" said Brittany, a recent participant in Kessler's contextual math activity. "It game me a new perspective on math. I think we should do it again."

And others liked it simply because it was a nice deviation from standard lecture. "I like the (waffle) activity because it was fun and we got to interact with each other," said Nour, also a student in Kessler's class.

It's not expensive, but it is effective. Kessler adds that creating new learning environments in which to apply math skills can significantly enhance skills and retention.

"In a traditional lecture, the class knows what to expect in terms of structure. I like to keep the students on their toes by introducing unexpected events," concludes Kessler. "The students seem much more engaged with the process when they do not know what to expect. Sometimes when they are focusing on an activity, they are having so much fun with one another they seem to forget that they are learning math. Those are the classes that students will be able to remember."