Nine years ago members of staff within Physical Sciences at Cambridge University began recognizing that some students were having problems not only with the Mathematics Courses but also with applying material from A level in the context of their scientific subjects. The mathematics workbook was introduced to assist students with revision prior to starting university. On completion the student is asked to fill in a questionnaire that helps to define the problem areas. This is presented to their supervisor. The supervision system is a fundamental feature of Cambridge teaching and one of its main strengths. The student sees a supervisor â?? most commonly in a group of two undergraduates, sometimes in a group of three and only exceptionally one-on-one â?? to discuss his or her work for at least an hour once a week. Such support is ongoing and essentially provides individual attention to those students who lack fundamental mathematical skills.

Analysis is made showing how Helmholtz and Gibbs energies conveniently interrelate enabling typical 2-D and 3-D curves to be drawn across a range of temperature for selected chemical equilibria. Opposing influences leading to a free energy minimum or an entropy maximum are given a physical explanation with the attainment of equilibrium and the choice of conditions made evident. Simplifying assumptions are emphasised and the examples show how the data are manipulated, limits evaluated and trends in equilibrium summarised by EXCEL charts.

Glynis Perkin, Tony Croft and Duncan Lawson. (2013) The extent of mathematics learning support in UK higher education—the 2012 survey. Teaching Mathematics Applications, 32 (4), 165-172 doi:10.1093/teamat/hrt014. Many higher education institutions have introduced some kind of mathematics learning support provision in response to the well-documented ‘mathematics problem’. In 2001 and 2004 two independent studies were undertaken to assess the number of universities offering mathematics learning support to students in addition to that provided through lectures, tutorials and the personal tutorial system. The results of these surveys showed a growth in the number of institutions providing support from 46 to 66. In this article we report on a survey carried out in 2012 to establish the current position regarding the provision of mathematics learning support in UK universities. In addition to determining the number of institutions providing mathematics learning support—there has been a further rise to 88—the article analyses the distribution of mathematics learning support by university mission group and by the type of support provided. The main findings are that the extent of mathematics learning support provision is largely independent of mission group and the dominant provision is drop-in support.

There are a number of rules known as the laws of logarithms. These allow expressions involving logarithms to be rewritten in a variety of different ways. The laws apply to logarithms of any base, but the same base must be used throughout a calculation.

Nicole Scherger (2013). The redesign of a quantitative literacy class: student responses to a lab based format, Teaching Mathematics and its Applications 2013 32(4), 206-213 doi: 10.1093/teamat/hrt003. The purpose of this study was to observe students’ retention, success and attitudes towards mathematics in a community college quantitative literacy course, taught in a lab-based format. The redesigned course implemented the daily use of Microsoft Excel in the classroom demonstrations, group activities and individual assignments, and utilized data from many fields of study. Results showed statistically significant growth in attitudes towards real-world application problems, the use of computers in mathematics, and the consideration of taking additional mathematics courses. There was also marginally significant growth in students’ attitudes towards the relevance and utility of mathematics. Higher retention and success rates in the redesigned course were also observed, although those rates were not found to be statistically significant.

A mathtutor extention where David Acheson discusses the key element surprise in mathematics. This resource is released under a Creative Commons license Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivative Works and the copyright is held by Skillbank Solutions Ltd.

Quantum theory is a key part of the chemical and physical sciences. Traditionally, the teaching of quantum theory has relied heavily on the use of calculus to solve the Schr�¶dinger equation for a limited number of special cases. This approach is not suitable for students who are weak in mathematics, for example, many students who are majoring in biochemistry, biological sciences, etc. This case study describes an approach based on approximate numerical solutions and graphical descriptions of the Schr�¶dinger equation to develop a qualitative appreciation of quantum mechanics in an Australian University.

For first and second year engineering students at Napier University, the TI-83 graphics calculator plays a major role in an integrated technological approach to mathematics. This case study reviews the process of integration and its current position in the teaching of students.