From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Msuck: nntp://news.gmane.io/gmane.science.mathematics.categories/1608 Path: news.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Peter Freyd Newsgroups: gmane.science.mathematics.categories Subject: Ronnie Letter Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 08:03:05 -0400 (EDT) Message-ID: <200008281203.e7SC35I09427@saul.cis.upenn.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: main.gmane.org X-Trace: ger.gmane.org 1241017964 32053 80.91.229.2 (29 Apr 2009 15:12:44 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@ger.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 29 Apr 2009 15:12:44 +0000 (UTC) To: categories@mta.ca Original-X-From: rrosebru@mta.ca Mon Aug 28 17:11:17 2000 -0300 Original-Received: (from Majordom@localhost) by mailserv.mta.ca (8.9.3/8.9.3) id RAA20318 for categories-list; Mon, 28 Aug 2000 17:04:30 -0300 (ADT) X-Authentication-Warning: mailserv.mta.ca: Majordom set sender to cat-dist@mta.ca using -f Original-Sender: cat-dist@mta.ca Precedence: bulk X-Keywords: X-UID: 20 Original-Lines: 30 Xref: news.gmane.org gmane.science.mathematics.categories:1608 Archived-At: Copyright 2000 Newspaper Publishing PLC The Independent (London) August 27, 2000, Sunday SECTION: SPORT; Pg. 27 LENGTH: 145 words HEADLINE: LETTER: THE JOY OF MATHS BYLINE: R. Brown BODY: IT IS UNTRUE to say, as Geoff Poole does (Letters, 13 August), that university maths courses have not changed in 30 years. It depends where you go. Prospective students should look for courses in which a project is a requirement for the final assessment; where the project does allow for a "maths in context" flavour when desired; and in which the evaluation of mathematical method is seen as a part of the whole course. Such considerations are also essential for prospective teachers. Those of us who are working on raising public awareness of mathematics believe it is essential to popularise it. It is an essential component of high-technology because it allows for precision and hence deduction and calculation. This kind of rigour may not be easy, but it makes those who can do it very employable. R BROWN University of Wales Bangor, Gwynedd