With widening participation in the university sector and the reduction in pre-requisites for entry into many university science courses, students are arriving at university with reduced competencies in mathematics. As quantitative skills are crucial for study in science, under-preparation has direct effects on multiple disciplines. The Maths Skills Program for first year science and statistics students at La Trobe University was developed in collaboration with science coordinators to provide students with mathematics support that highlights the relevance of mathematics to their disciplines. In evaluating the program, both the students and science coordinators were surveyed. The student responses on questionnaires indicated the students saw the relevance of the program to their educational goals, believed the questions written in context helped them learn their subject, and the focus on relevance helped them understand how mathematics was related to their subject. This was in line with the responses from the science coordinators who found the program to be relevant to their disciplines and assisted students in applying mathematics in context. Deborah C. Jackson, Elizabeth D. Johnson, Tania M. Blanksby. (2014) A Practitioner’s Guide to Implementing Cross-Disciplinary Links in a Mathematics Support Program. IJISME, Vol 22, No 1. http://openjournals.library.usyd.edu.au/index.php/CAL/article/view/6898

The ability to rearrange formulas, or rewrite them in different ways, is an important skills. This leaflet will explain how to rearrange some complex formulas.

All students are assessed using a paper-based written test of multi-choice questions (MCQs). The test has 15 questions of which the students must pass with 12 correct. Two hours were allowed. All of the questions were on routine arithmetic and algebra with emphasis on manipulative drill and practice, e.g. decomposition into powers of primes, long division, fractions, BODMAS, surds, elementary function definition, and inequalities. The test is quite demanding and was introduced last year 2001. It is repeated for those who fail six times during the course of the year in a programme called â??Essential Mathematicsâ??. Passing it is a mandatory requirement to proceed into the second year.

Since 1977 a paper-based diagnostic test has been presented to first year mathematics students at the University of York. Based on an interview with the administering lecturer and a student questionnaire this case study examines the procedure, results and student responses to the diagnostic testing process.

The Department of Mathematics, Physics and Electronics (School of Applied Sciences Anglia Polytechnic University, Cambridge) uses DIAGNOSYS to administer a computer-based diagnostic test, testing the mathematical knowledge of primarily foundation year students.

We describe a course aimed at providing chemical engineering students with an understanding of the fundamental classes of equations which occur in chemical engineering, the mathematical basis of their numerical solution methods and the basic methods of implementing these in a high level computing language. The course thus integrates elements of both conceptual and practical mathematics and computing.

The Centre was established in 1996 within the Department of Mathematical Sciences in order to underpin the Department's service teaching commitment to engineering undergraduates. In the first instance funding had been made available through an internal university learning and teaching initiative for a period of two years. Because of its early successes the Centre became a permanent feature in 1998 and now serves any student in the university who might benefit from additional resources, over and above those normally provided, to help them in their learning of basic mathematical techniques.

A video tutorial introducing the basic laws of logic i.e. double negative, idempotent, identity etc. There are 8 videos in the Boolean series. This resource has been contributed under a Creative Commons licence to the mathcentre Community Project by Eva Szatmari and Catherine Griffiths, Birkbeck College, University of London and reviewed by Gill Whitney, Middlesex University. It is one of a series of 20 video resources funded by a sigma Resource Development grant.

This case study reports on the approach at one institution to helping first year engineering students to acquire the mathematical skills they need. The approach involves a range of support mechanisms, and the concerted use of technology as well as paper and pencil methods. Changes in curriculum, pedagogy and indeed assessment style have all proven necessary.

FOR COPYRIGHT REASONS DIRECT ACCESS TO THIS PAPER MAY BE UNAVAILABLE. MathsAid is a university-wide maths support service offering one-to-one tutorial support and more. This paper by Atkins, May and Marks-Maran (Kingston University, UK) discusses the initiative and provides information about its evaluation by questionnaire, usage data and interviews with students. The paper is published in the Journal of Further and Higher Education, Vol. 29. No. 4 (2005) pp 353-365. DOI:10.1080/03098770500353607

Students in Aeronautical Engineering are taught MATLAB in the first year to provide them with programming skills and for use in later courses. In the second year MATLAB is used to enhance the teaching of linear algebra and to apply the mathematical techniques to engineering problems.

Teaching students to write mathematics correctly is often neglected part of a mathematics degree. A workshop was convened by Kevin Houston to consider approaches to teaching this topic. A DVD was produced with videos of talks by Kevin Houston (University of Leeds), Franco Vivaldi (Queen Mary, University of London) and Mike Robinson (Sheffield Hallam University), along with further reading and sample teaching resources. At this website you can download and burn your own DVD or view the videos and other materials online. This website is not made available under a Creative Commons licence.