March 28 (UPI) -- Policy makers and educators around the world are trying to encourage more students -- especially female students -- to pursue degrees in STEM fields. One strategy for doing so is called "curriculum intensification." But new research suggests the strategy fails to achieve the desired results.
Curriculum intensification involves the introduction of more mandatory hard math and science courses. Such a strategy was implemented in high schools in the German state of Baden-Württemberg in 2002. Education officials decided to require four math lessons per week during students' final two years of schooling -- up from the prior mandate of three lessons per week.